The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.
I beg you I no magician. I can't just wave a magic wand.
When I took office, Liberia began to recover from years of neglect. Our people have brought clean water into the heart of Monrovia to children who have never known water from a tap. Efforts are underway to expand water projects as much as possible throughout the country.
The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength of our people to share the dream across Africa of clean water for all.
The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our children to begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.
My calling was first of all to ensure there was peace in the country, because we could easily have gone back to war. In the midst of the country, there were still warlords; there were many child soldiers who had never gone to school - they were part of the social setting - compromises had to be made.
We've done a lot to restore Liberia's credibility, Liberia's reputation, Liberia's presence.
In terms of being able to renew my nation, to be able to be able to bring back a devastated country, to restore hope to our people, to lift women and to give them a new horizon, a new ambition and new dreams, in respect of all of that, I think we've accomplished it, and I feel very good about that.
My mother was a disciplinarian. She believed that when young girls start to go out with young boys, they get married.
We have to overcome the practice of male domination - even though it's changing, and changing in Liberia quite drastically.
As more men become more educated and women get educated, the value system has to be more enhanced and the respect for human dignity and human life is made better.
I just think that unless you have that cohesiveness in the family unit, the male character tends to become very dominant, repressive and insensitive. So much of this comes also from a lack of education.
I'm not talking about what you hear from 5 per cent of the population on the radio, in the papers. I don't pay attention to it. I travel around the country. I'm happy I have a good relationship with the people.
I would like to make sure, first of all, that our women in the informal sector - I mean, these are the farmers and the traders; many of them are not educated, many of them lacking literacy - be able to give them better working conditions. And we've done a lot to be able to achieve that.
I've been involved in politics for quite some time. I've held positions, and my experiences are very deep, and I think I have the capacity, the courage, and the character to institute the kinds of reforms that are so desperately needed.
One has to look at my life story to see what I've done. I've paid a heavy price that many people don't realize.
I stand by it. I take the criticism for it. I think it's unfair, but yes, there is a thing about nepotism, and we all try to respect it.
My mother was the strength. She was the anchor. She was a preacher and a teacher.
