Susan Scarf Merrell

I tell my children now that they are older, ‘If something happens to me… don’t make no big fuss over me. Don’t make no big expense on my funeral. Don’t put any pressure on the rest of the family. I’ve loved everybody, and I hope they loved me. But don’t create this big expense for the family.’

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.

I met with my lawyers. They gave me all the wrong advice. For a long time I refused to accept the child was mine. I should have met her, arranged a DNA test and accepted my responsibility.

My father was a perfectionist. We had to hop to everything and have marvelous table manners. I could only wear navy blue and gray and white. He wanted me to be interested in tennis and horses just like a little princess, but I couldn’t stand such things.

As children we recognized that we belonged to an unusual, even exceptional, family, but the effect was different on each of us.

My daughters are the heart of my heart and the center of my world.

Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

Never fret for an only son, the idea of failure will never occur to him.

The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend.

There’s no other love like the love for a brother. There’s no other love like the love from a brother.

I’ve known people that was a part of a family and always feel that the family liked everyone else but them. That hurts, and that’s as deep a hurt as you can possibly get. I’ve known people that would have problems with their love life. This is kind of how blues began – out of feeling misused, mistreated. Feeling like they had nobody to turn to. Blues don’t necessarily have to be sung by a person that came from Mississippi as I did, because there are people having problems all over the world.

The family is very important. They make me feel good always because if I won, when I started to be famous, the relationship never changed with my friends and family.

The times when Barack and I are at our most relaxed are when we invite some friends over who we have known forever. And you put a little music on top of that? Some good food? It renews your spirit to get back in the game.

Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love. Authority is for children and servants, yet not without sweetness.

I always sort of felt like the eight years that Barack was president, it was sort of like having the good parent at home. You know, the responsible parent, the one who told you to eat your carrots and go to bed on time.