Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think: have I really come this far? Because it is quite different, where I find myself today, from where I started off, in the streets of Waterloo, in the suburbs of Liverpool - that's for sure. Cherie Blair More Quotes by Cherie Blair More Quotes From Cherie Blair If every child matters, every child has the right to a good start in life. If every child matters, every child has the right to be included. And that is so important for children with special needs. Cherie Blair important special children All the research shows that investing in women is a good investment Cherie Blair investment investing research Men are never brave, are they? Cherie Blair brave men As long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up you are never going to make progress. Cherie Blair blow long people My immediate instinct when faced with the questions from The Mail on Sunday ten days ago was to protect my family's privacy and particularly my son in his first term at university, living away from home. Cherie Blair sunday home son I'm an incurable optimist, and I'm a great believer in never looking back. Life is too short, and new challenges are exciting. Cherie Blair great looking-back challenges life I am not Superwoman. The reality of my daily life is that I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air trying to be a good wife and mother, trying to be the prime-ministerial consort at home and abroad, barrister and charity worker, and sometimes one of the balls gets dropped. Cherie Blair good mother home life For many women, becoming a widow does not just mean the heartache of losing a husband, but often losing everything else as well. Cherie Blair everything women husband losing Women tend to judge other women harshly. We should be kinder to each other, accept that we're all different and can make different choices. Not go for some kind of stereotypical idea that we're perfect. Frankly, I'm not perfect. Cherie Blair judge not-perfect women choices I was so intent as a young lawyer on beating the men at their own game that I didn't take any real maternity leave with my three younger children. It is only looking back that I realise I wasn't beating the system but reinforcing it. Cherie Blair game looking-back men children Many of the big decisions over progression, promotion and future career trajectory are taken when people are in their late twenties and thirties, putting women at a huge disadvantage because this is the very time they are most likely to be having a break to have children. Cherie Blair future women time children You hear these yummy mummies talk about being the best possible mother, and they put all their effort into their children. I also want to be the best possible mother, but I know that my job as a mother includes bringing my children up so, actually, they can live without me. Cherie Blair best me mother children I think anyone doing an interview is to some extent on show. And therefore, we always want to put on our best face. Cherie Blair face doing best think I think, when I was a young lawyer starting out, I was so determined to prove that I was as good as the men and that I could be given the same opportunities as the men, and it wouldn't make any difference at all that I was a woman. But actually, looking back on it now, I did do things that I wouldn't recommend to other women at all. Cherie Blair woman good women men I think I'm one of life's copers. And picking myself up and dusting myself off and starting all over again is one of my mottoes, actually. Cherie Blair over myself think life I have no problem with saying I am a socialist or with saying I'm a feminist. That's how I was when I was 15, and you know, I haven't grown out of it and probably never will. Cherie Blair i-am never you problem I really am not going to get involved in a discussion about the legal position of the Iraq war. I am not the person to do that because I am not sufficiently impartial as a lawyer about this, because it's a matter that is of interest to the person that I am closest to in the world. Cherie Blair i-am lawyer war world Torture produces unreliable evidence and therefore doesn't achieve and protect anybody. Torture corrupts those who are doing the torturing. Cherie Blair doing who torture achieve Britain is still seen as a beacon for decency, for democracy, for vigorous judges upholding the rule of law and, dare I say it, a free press. I respect the press in theory, but when you see some of the things it writes about you, it's not exactly a happy relationship. Cherie Blair you respect democracy relationship Like every mother, it's my children; that's the first thing that makes me really proud. For my own part, it would be when I became a Queen's Counsel in 1995. I was the 76th woman ever to become a Queen's Counsel, so it was still a pretty rare thing. Cherie Blair woman me mother children
