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Barack Obama

1,038 quotes

“We need a President who is fighting for all Americans, not one who writes off nearly half the country.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tweet (18 Sep 2012)
“The sequester is not something that I proposed. It's something that Congress has proposed. It will not happen.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Third Presidential Debate (22 October 2012)
“I think Governor Romney maybe hasn't spent enough time looking at how our military works. You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines. And so the question is not a game of Battleship, where we're counting ships. It's: What are our capabilities?”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But right now, the key is to make sure that the public is following instructions. For those of you who still need additional information about how to respond, you can go to Ready.gov -- that’s Ready.gov. And that website should provide you with all the information that your family needs in terms of how you can prepare for this storm.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we'd pick up. Then, as we get older, we realize that a world in which we're only thinking about ourselves and not thinking about anybody else, in which we're considering the entire project of developing ourselves as more important than our relationships to other people and making sure that everybody else has opportunity – that that's a pretty narrow vision.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview", 2012
“And at the time the Republican Congress and a Senate candidate by the name of Mitt Romney — [crowd boos] No, no, no — Don't boo, vote. Vote! Voting's the best revenge.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[D]emocracy is not something that is static; it’s something that we constantly have to work on. [...]democracy is a little messier than alternative systems of government, but that’s because democracy allows everybody to have a voice. And that system of government lasts, and it’s legitimate, and when agreements are finally struck, you know that nobody is being left out of the conversation. And that’s the reason for our stability and our prosperity.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Joint news conference with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House, Bangkok, Thailand on November 18, 2012
“At times, we’ve disagreed on matters of policy. But one thing we’ve always shared is a notion of what public service should be. That it ought to be more than just doing what’s popular in the moment. That it ought to be about what’s right for our nation, over the long term. It ought to be about problem-solving and governance, not just how we can score political points on each other or engage in obstructionism. And where compromise is not a vice and where bipartisanship is a actually considered a virtue -- to be rewarded, not punished.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by the President at the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Symposium hold at The National War College in Washington, D.C. on December 03, 2012.
“Our people and our children are not for sale. But for all the progress that we’ve made, the bitter truth is that trafficking also goes on right here, in the United States. It’s the migrant worker unable to pay off the debt to his trafficker. The man, lured here with the promise of a job, his documents then taken, and forced to work endless hours in a kitchen. The teenage girl, beaten, forced to walk the streets. This should not be happening in the United States of America.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human trafficking is not a business model, it is a crime, and we are going to stop it.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.”
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“[W]e were inspired by the fierce dignity of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as she proved that no human being can truly be imprisoned if hope burns in your heart.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And to protect the freedom of all the voters, those in power must accept constraints. That's what our American system is designed to do. Now, America may have the strongest military in the world, but it must submit to civilian control. I, as the President of the United States, make determinations that the military then carries out, not the other way around. As President and Commander-In-Chief, I have that responsibility because I'm accountable to the people.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's not enough to trade a prison of powerlessness for the pain of an empty stomach. But history shows that governments of the people and by the people and for the people more powerful in delivering prosperity.”
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“When ordinary people have a say in their own future, then your land can’t just be taken away from you.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And that kind of economic growth, where everybody has opportunity -- if you work hard, you can succeed -- that's what gets a nation moving rapidly when it comes to develop. But that kind of growth can only be created if corruption is left behind. For investment to lead to opportunity, reform must promote budgets that are transparent and industry that is privately owned.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Above all, when your voices are heard in government, it's far more likely that your basic needs will be met. And that’s why reform must reach the daily lives of those who are hungry and those who are ill, and those who live without electricity or water.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And let us remember that in a global economy, a country’s greatest resource is its people. So by investing in you, this nation can open the door for far more prosperity -- because unlocking a nation’s potential depends on empowering all its people, especially its young people.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No process of reform will succeed without national reconciliation. [...] National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country’s future, it is necessary to stop incitement and to stop violence.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As one former prisoner put it in speaking to his fellow citizens, “Politics is your job. It’s not only for [the] politicians.” And we have an expression in the United States that the most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen -- not President, not Speaker, but citizen.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You're the ones who are going to have to seize freedom, because a true revolution of the spirit begins in each of our hearts.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a community, you’ve inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you’ve looked out for each other. You’ve cared for one another. And you’ve loved one another. This is how Newtown will be remembered, and with time and God’s grace, that love will see you through. But we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These are our kids. This is what they’re thinking about. And so what we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them, and shield them from harm, and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything that they’re capable of doing -- not just to pursue their own dreams, but to help build this country. This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the land of the free, and it always will be. As Americans, we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights that no man or government can take away from us. But we've also long recognized, as our Founders recognized, that with rights come responsibilities. Along with our freedom to live our lives as we will comes an obligation to allow others to do the same. We don’t live in isolation. We live in a society, a government of, and by, and for the people. We are responsible for each other.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There will be a sovereign Palestinian state, a sovereign Jewish state of Israel and those two states can, I think, will be able to deal with each other the same way all states do. I mean, you know, the United States and Canada has arguments once in a while, but they’re not the nature of arguments that can’t be solved diplomatically.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Press conference in Ramallah (21 March 2013), as quoted in "Obama Compares Israeli-Palestinian Conflict to Arguments Between U.S. and Canada" in Wall Street Journal (21 March 2013),
“Peace is far more preferable to war.… I believe that peace is the only path to true security. … And there is no question that the only path to peace is through negotiations.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks of President Barack Obama To the People of Israel at Jerusalem International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel (21 March 2013)
“I am not a dictator, I am the president. I know this has been some of the conventional wisdom floating around Washington, that somehow even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable, that most people agree I’m presenting a fair deal, the fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight. And Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss...We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake - we will get to the bottom of this. And we will find out who did this; we'll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: President Obama Speaks on the Explosions in Boston (15 April 2013)
“Ultimately, peace is just not about politics. It’s about attitudes; about a sense of empathy; about breaking down the divisions that we create for ourselves in our own minds and our own hearts that don’t exist in any objective reality, but that we carry with us generation after generation.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama and Mrs. Obama in Town Hall with Youth of Northern Ireland, Belfast Waterfront, Belfast, Northern Ireland (17 June 2013)
“The terms of peace may be negotiated by political leaders, but the fate of peace is up to each of us.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama and Mrs. Obama in Town Hall with Youth of Northern Ireland, Belfast Waterfront, Belfast, Northern Ireland (17 June 2013)
“Our scientists will keep collaborating with yours in fields like nanotechnology and clean energy and health care that make our lives better and fuel economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic –- because progress is essential to peace. And because knowledge and understanding is essential to peace, we will keep investing in programs that enrich both of us ….”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama and Mrs. Obama in Town Hall with Youth of Northern Ireland, Belfast Waterfront, Belfast, Northern Ireland (17 June 2013)
“And because no one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty, I am going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage because it's lower right now than it was when Ronald Reagan took office. It's time for the minimum wage to go up.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by the President on the Economy, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois (24 July 2013)
“Putin is slouching…looking like that bored schoolboy in the back of the classroom.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Obama: Putin is slouchin’" in The Washington Post (9 August 2013)
“As free peoples, we recognize that democracy is the most effective form of government ever devised for delivering progress and opportunity and prosperity and freedom to people. And as two of the most innovative economies on Earth, we cherish that freedom that allows us to innovate and create, which is why we’re leaders in science and research and development -- those things that pioneers new industries and broaden our horizons.”
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Recorded in: Barack Obama: The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Reinfeldt of Sweden in Stockholm" by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, at The American Presidency Project (4 September 2013)
“We share a belief in the dignity and equality of every human being; that our daughters deserve the same opportunities as our sons; that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters must be treated equally under the law; that our societies are strengthened and not weakened by diversity. And we stand up for universal human rights, not only in America and in Europe, but beyond, because we believe that when these rights are respected, nations are more successful and our world is safer and more just.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Barack Obama: The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Reinfeldt of Sweden in Stockholm" by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, at The American Presidency Project (4 September 2013)
“But the current convulsions arising out of the Arab Spring remind us that a just and lasting peace cannot be measured only by agreements between nations. It must also be measured by our ability to resolve conflict and promote justice within nations.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“And we did so based on the belief that while these transitions will be hard and take time, societies based upon democracy and openness and the dignity of the individual will ultimately be more stable, more prosperous, and more peaceful.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“Our overriding interest throughout these past few years has been to encourage a government that legitimately reflects the will of the Egyptian people, and recognizes true democracy as requiring a respect for minority rights and the rule of law, freedom of speech and assembly, and a strong civil society.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“And while we recognize that our influence will at times be limited, although we will be wary of efforts to impose democracy through military force, and although we will at times be accused of hypocrisy and inconsistency, we will be engaged in the region for the long haul. For the hard work of forging freedom and democracy is the task of a generation.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“So let's work together to make government work better instead of treating it like an enemy or purposely making it work worse. That's not what the founders of this nation envisioned when they gave us the gift of self-government. You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country's about.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m not a particularly ideological person. There’s things, some values I feel passionately about.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Seattle fundraiser, 24 November 2013.
“The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. And for more than two hundred years, we have. Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.”
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“Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone.”
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“We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.”
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“We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.”
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“We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”
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“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.”
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“Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.”
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