Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
– Barack Obama
I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that
America doesn’t torture. And I’m gonna make sure that we don’t torture. Those are part and
parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.
– Barack Obama
A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.
– Barack Obama
We live in a culture that discourages empathy. A culture that too often tells us our principle
goal in life is to be rich, thin, young, famous, safe and entertained.
– Barack Obama
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of
yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.
– Barack Obama
You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.
– Barack Obama
In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good
education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a pre-requisite.
– Barack Obama
There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America;
there’s the United States of America.
– Barack Obama
You know, sometimes I’ll go to an 8th grade graduation and there’s all that pomp and
circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it’s just 8th grade. An 8th grade
education doesn’t cut it today. Let’s give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts
back into the library.
– Barack Obama
If we aren’t willing to pay a price for our values, then we should ask ourselves whether we
truly believe in them at all.
– Barack Obama
Yes We Can!
– Barack Obama
There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America – there’s the United States of
America.
– Barack Obama
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll
make progress.
– Barack Obama
In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world.
– Barack Obama
The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.
– Barack Obama
I’m in this race not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.
– Barack Obama
Change doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.
– Barack Obama
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic
product, but on the reach of our prosperity, on the ability to extend opportunity to every
willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
– Barack Obama
When people are judged by merit, not connections, then the best and brightest can lead the
country, people will work hard, and the entire economy will grow – everyone will benefit and
more resources will be available for all, not just select groups.
– Barack Obama
With the magnitude of the challenges we face right now, what we need in Washington are
not more political tactics – we need more good ideas. We don’t need more point-scoring – we
need more problem-solving.
– Barack Obama
What Washington needs is adult supervision.
– Barack Obama
If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect
them and to promote their common welfare – all else is lost.
– Barack Obama
Many of you know that I got my name, Barack, from my father. What you may not know is
Barack is actually Swahili for “That One.” And I got my middle name from somebody who
obviously didn’t think I’d ever run for president.
– Barack Obama
No one is pro-abortion.
– Barack Obama
It’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize
your true potential.
– Barack Obama
My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.
– Barack Obama
I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government
and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking
shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.
– Barack Obama
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not.
It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way.
The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it
harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to
persevere.
– Barack Obama