Barack Obama Quotes

What makes you a man isn’t the ability to conceive a child; it’s having the courage to raise one.

Neil Armstrong was a hero not just of his time, but of all time.

"... all people yearn for certain things: ... government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

Today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people. The cause of securing our country is not complete, but tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history.

The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.

From the earliest days of our founding, America has been the story of ordinary people who dare to dream. That’s how we win the future.

Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love. And with that change, I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.

We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.

Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater – something more consequential than party or political preference.

What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.

So, no, I will not give up on trying to change the tone of our politics.  I know it's an election year.  And after last week, it's clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual.  But we still need to govern. 

We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones that we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.

No one is exempt from the call to find common ground.

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.

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.

Don't underestimate the capacity of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't underestimate our ability to screw it up.

That is why we fight -- in hopes of a day when we no longer need to.

We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it's easy, but when it is hard