Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Barack Obama Quotes
AutonomyLibertyResistance Michelle and I don't want anyone telling us who our family's doctor should be - and no one should decide that for you either. Under our proposals, if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. If you like your current insurance, you keep that insurance. Period, end of story.
DemocracyCitizenshipFairnessGritKindness Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I'll be right there with you as a citizen - inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.
AmbitionHard WorkPotentialSelf-Improvement We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.
LongingLife PaceDaily LifeCompanionshipSimple Happiness I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks.
TravelJourneyPerseveranceExperienceDetermination Over the last 15 months, we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.
PrincipleUnityLegacyPatriotismValue Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation - not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago.
Social JusticeEqualityWorkers' RightsFairness Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done.
LeadershipCourageIdentity If you're looking for the safe choice, you shouldn't be supporting a black guy named Barack Obama to be the next leader of the free world.
DangerThreatNational SecurityPublic Health When we think of the major threats to our national security, the first to come to mind are nuclear proliferation, rogue states and global terrorism. But another kind of threat lurks beyond our shores, one from nature, not humans - an avian flu pandemic.
ExceptionalismNational Identity I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.
Healthcare That's what the Affordable Care Act is all about. It's about filling the gaps in employer-based care so that when we lose a job, or go back to school, or start that new business, we'll still have coverage.
UnityEnvironmental ResponsibilityFuture GenerationsClimate ActionUrgency This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands.
Military and Domestic Law EnforcementDistinctionNational Identity I think one of the great things about the United States has been our ability to maintain a distinction between our military and domestic law enforcement.
Prosperity We didn't become the most prosperous country in the world just by rewarding greed and recklessness. We didn't come this far by letting the special interests run wild. We didn't do it just by gambling and chasing paper profits on Wall Street. We built this country by making things, by producing goods we could sell.
Workforce DevelopmentEducationFuture PlanningAccessibilityChild Development It's not enough to train today's workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow's workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.
ComplexityNuanceIntegrity Issues are never simple. One thing I'm proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.
ImmigrationStrangerhoodNational IdentityBelongingEmpathy My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.
ResponsibilityCommunityFreedomDutyPatriotism We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.
Racial TensionCommunity DivisionSocial Justice In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Missouri - where a young man was killed, and a community was divided. So yes, we have our own racial and ethnic tensions.
CommitmentFutureDutyTransition Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not.
PerseveranceResilienceFuture The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.
SupportUnityResponsibilityFutureSelf-determination After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future.
UnityFaithTolerance And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God, and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation.
Human RightsMoralityJusticeIntegrityGlobal Freedom Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction.
AcceptanceFamilyUnderstandingInclusivity I think that there's no doubt that as I see friends, families, children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues.
Hard WorkFuturePerseveranceEthics/BeliefsCommunity It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.
Community EngagementPolitical TransitionPublic InputNational Agenda Let me even say before I even get inaugurated, during the transition we are going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America.
HelpInvestmentInfrastructureCollaboration If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help... Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.
LeadershipHumility I'm the president of the United States. I'm not the emperor of the United States.
ChangeActionPerseveranceHard WorkProgress Now we're in the midst of not just advocating for change, not just calling for change - we're doing the grinding, sometimes frustrating work of delivering change - inch by inch, day by day.
ChangePerseveranceChallengePatienceProgress Through every victory and every setback, I've insisted that change is never easy and never quick; that we wouldn't meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.
DiplomacyInternational RelationsDemocracyProgress Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That's why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people.
SecurityLeadershipPowerDiplomacy In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy.
DemocracyCompromiseFiscal PolicyLeadershipConviction No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. But when Governor Romney and his allies in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy - well, you do the math. I refuse to go along with that. And as long as I'm President, I never will.
RecognitionEqualityInclusivityAcceptance I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.
SafetyJusticeSecurityPeaceSustainability We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer - our homeland more secure, our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation.
ImmigrationTalentLogicStrategy The immigration issue is, I recognize, one that generates a lot of passion, but it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out.
AmbitionPurposePotential Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
Racial JusticeHistoryDiscriminationUnityAcknowledgment In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed.
EducationOpportunitySkill DevelopmentEconomic Mobility You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life.
UnityCommon ValuesEqualityJusticePeaceful Protest Let us remember we are all part of one American family. We are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law, basic respect for public order, and the right of peaceful protest.
EffortDialogueVoteLawPromise After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.
UnityCollective ActionTimeMomentGlobal Community People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.
RepresentationPublic ServiceAccountabilityDuty My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.