Queen Rania of Jordan

“It isn't often that the logic behind a policy is so clear. But when it comes to the value of educating girls, the evidence speaks for itself.”

“I'd rather be dealt with as a person than a persona. With my children, I'm just 'Mom.' At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It's really your essence and your values that are important.”

“Eighty percent of my life is normal like any other mother. I worry about my children, if they're doing all right. I worry that my husband is doing well. The 20 percent is just the queen aspect that factors in. But for me, it's life as usual, and it's just taking care of my family.”

“Tweeting is a very personal form of expression. Who else could talk about my son refusing to wear a suit to meet the Pope, my husband flying a helicopter, or take a twitpic from our home?”

“I want to be that person who could sacrifice everything for others.”

“Of course democracy is good, but it is a process, not a prescription.”

“Perhaps if we all subscribed to the African concept of Ubuntu - that we all become people through other people, and that we cannot be fully human alone, we could learn a lot. There'd be less hatred and more harmony.”

“Learning to read and write changes lives; it means jobs, money, health, and dreams fulfilled.”

“I don't think people by nature are extremists. You will never find a population of extremists. Extremists have existed throughout the centuries on all religions. And what happens is, extremists start to have more leverage when the situation is bad.”

“I have nothing against the veil. And I think that, wrongly, many in the West look at the veil as a symbol of oppression. Now, as long as a woman chooses to wear the veil, because that's her belief and because of her own - that's a personal relationship with God, so she should be free to dress in whichever way she wants.”

“In education, technology can be a life-changer, a game changer, for kids who are both in school and out of school. Technology can bring textbooks to life. The Internet can connect students to their peers in other parts of the world. It can bridge the quality gaps.”

“I feel that we don't have the luxury of asking whether or not the Palestinians and Israelis can achieve peace. I think we have to just ask the question of when and how.”

“When you educate a girl, you kick-start a cycle of success. It makes economic sense. It makes social sense. It makes moral sense. But, it seems, it's not common sense yet.”

“Holy scripture does not hold women back. It's the people that decide to interpret it in such a way for their own, sometimes political, agendas.”

“I think change needs to be egoless. It's not about my leaving my fingerprints or a legacy. It's more important to be part of a process by rolling up your sleeves, being on the ground, initiating projects, starting campaigns - you know, building stuff.”

“At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It's really your essence and your values that are important.”

“The average Jordanian has much in common with the average American in terms of the values that we share, the fact that we all value the family unit, our work ethic.”

“I've learned to take things a little more easily, to be a little more forgiving of myself.”