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Obama has become a figure of international prominence as a result of his political career. He’s considered by many to be one of the greatest politicians in history and is often compared to other renowned figures like Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. Even if your political views are much different and there are definitely some controversial aspects of his government, there’s no doubt that Barack Obama still remains one of the greatest leaders of the 21st century. This charismatic family man inspired millions of younglings to get more involved in politics and activism. His wife, Michelle Obama, is also an incredible leader in her own right, being a successful lawyer who inspired women to pursue their goals, no matter how ambitious they may be.
Barack Obama made history when he was elected as the first African American president in 2008. Since then, he has been a role model for people who want to make a difference in their communities and around the world. He’s an excellent public speaker that uses words wisely. His speeches are often filled with inspiration and hope for the future, but they also contain some great quotes that encouraged his people and made them believe in something better. He delivered tons of memorable speeches during his presidency, so we collected Barack Obama’s most famous quotes here!
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#1
“You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.”
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I read once that failures are better teachers than successes, sometimes.
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#2
"The shift to a cleaner energy economy wont happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I keep praying that there are really smart people working on a plan to save us, since there are so many working to make things worse for the world... trump and the coal mines immediately comes to mind.
#4
“The cynics may be the loudest voices -- but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.”
#5
"Food Stamp recipients didn't cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did."
#6
"I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."
#7
"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."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I live in hope that this will eventually become a common goal, with all of us working together, and that time will remove the Lindsey Grahams and Mitch McConnells, and replace them with young committed people, determined to do right. I am struggling to keep my personal hope alive.
#8
"Americans... still believe in an America where anything's possible - they just don't think their leaders do."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
I was so proud when he was elected, I wish he could run again in 2024. I volunteered on his campaign, and within five minutes of the race being called, all the volunteers got a really heartfelt thank you email from him, something I don't think any candidate had done for me before. It was followed by a lovely snail mail, the gist was "if we stand together, united, we can accomplish great things".
#9
"We want everybody to act like adults, quit playing games, realize that it's not just my way or the highway."
#10
“When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk.”
#11
“Progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always smooth path.”
#12
"We as a country have to do some soul-searching."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
AMEN! I have not been this worried about the state of this country since 2016. We've wasted so much time trying to undo the harm that was done during that administration.
#14
“We may not be able to stop evil in the world, but how we treat one another is entirely up to us.”
#15
"Now you have a choice: we can give more tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here, in the United States of America."
#16
"Immigrants aren't the reason wages haven't gone up enough; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns."
#17
“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”
ᔑᓵᒷ 𝙹⎓ ᓭ!¡ᔑ↸ᒷᓭ 2 years ago
*me waiting for some shithead to make a transphobic comment with this*
#18
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
#19
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
#20
"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."
#22
“Keep exploring. Keep dreaming. Keep asking why. Don’t settle for what you already know. Never stop believing in the power of your ideas, your imagination, your hard work to change the world.”
#23
"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America."
#24
"The fact that my 15 minutes of fame has extended a little longer than 15 minutes is somewhat surprising to me and completely baffling to my wife."
#25
"If the critics are right that I've made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them."
#26
“My identity might begin with the fact of my race, but it didn’t, couldn’t end there. At least that’s what I would choose to believe.”
#27
“Change is never easy, but always possible.”
#29
"I'm going to try to unite all Americans."
#31
"In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy."
#33
“Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.”
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
There is nothing false about hope... which inspired me in 2008 more than I thought possible. Hard to believe that at that time, I thought George Bush was the epitome of evil. He looks a lot better after four years of trump.
#34
“Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us.”
#35
"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."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
Except in Florida... where our governor decided that if we "don't say gay" everything will be alright.
#36
"We're not a fragile people. We're not a frightful people. Our power doesn't come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don't look to be ruled."
#38
“Why can’t I just eat my waffle?”
#39
"I'm a warrior for the middle class."
#41
"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."
#42
"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."
#43
"I just want to go through Central Park and watch folks passing by. Spend the whole day watching people. I miss that."
#44
"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."
#45
"Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can't stop marching. Even when they're turning the hoses on you, you can't stop."
#46
"We can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. After a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed, we're getting back to basics, and doing what America has always done best: We're making things again."
#47
"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."
#48
"Ours is a nation of laws: of citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them. So, to a community in Ferguson that is rightly hurting and looking for answers, let me call once again for us to seek some understanding rather than simply holler at each other. Let's seek to heal rather than to wound each other."
#49
"Issues are never simple. One thing I'm proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues."
#50
"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets."
#51
"I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody."
#52
"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."
#53
"What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal - that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will."
#55
"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."
#56
“I began feeling the way I imagine an actor or athlete must feel when, after years of commitment to a particular dream… He realizes that he’s gone just about as far as talent or fortune will take him. The dream will not happen, and he now faces the choice of accepting this fact like a grownup and moving on to more sensible pursuits, or refusing the truth and ending up bitter, quarrelsome, and slightly pathetic.”
#58
“The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then to start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved.”
#60
“The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression; it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.”
#63
“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.”
#64
"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that's not what America's about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don't contract them."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
Let love be where you find it. Same sex marriage harms no one, despite the rights claims that gay marriage ruins life for everyone on the planet. There is precious little love in the world today... let's nurture all of it.
#65
"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."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
Reading these quotes has begun to rekindle some of my hope. I didn't think that was possible.
#66
"A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.'"
#67
"We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn't a matter of political correctness. It's a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
Or country of origin, or sexual orientation, or any politics that glorifies hatred and division in general. Did we learn nothing from WW2?
#68
"We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated."
#69
"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference."
#70
"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."
#71
"We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges."
#72
"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."
#73
"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America."
#74
"Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They've got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law."
#75
"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."
#76
"We all knew this. We all knew that it would take more time than any of us want to dig ourselves out of this hole created by this economic crisis."
#77
"Our higher education system is one of the things that makes America exceptional. There's no place else that has the assets we do when it comes to higher education. People from all over the world aspire to come here and study here. And that is a good thing."
#78
"We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible."
#79
"Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement."
#80
"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."
#81
"You have young men of color in many communities who are more likely to end up in jail or in the criminal justice system than they are in a good job or in college. And, you know, part of my job, that I can do, I think, without any potential conflicts, is to get at those root causes."
#82
"Yes, we've still got more work to do. More work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty or a world-class education; for everyone who has not yet felt the progress of these past seven and a half years."
#83
"I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together: black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance under the same proud flag to this big, bold country that we love. That's what I see. That's the America I know!"
#84
"But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That's what I strive to do, that's what I pray to do every day."
#85
"I don't think marriage is a civil right, but I think that being able to transfer property is a civil right."
#86
"Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may make you feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you feel the impact."
#87
"We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old - and that's the criterion by which I'll be selecting my judges."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
Sadly, this was completely destroyed by the last administration. That is the most heartbreaking thing they did.
#88
"America's promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. We bear our burdens. That's one of the reasons why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office."
#89
"My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success."
#90
"I know that campaigns can seem small, and even silly. Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. And the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. If you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me - so am I."
#91
"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."
#92
"So while an incredible amount of progress has been made, on this fifth anniversary, I wanted to come here and tell the people of this city directly: My administration is going to stand with you - and fight alongside you - until the job is done. Until New Orleans is all the way back, all the way."
#93
"I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions."
#94
"The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of the recession because that would just suck up and take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole."
#95
"I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
#96
"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."
#97
"Building new roads and bridges creates jobs. Growing our exports creates jobs. Reforming our outdated tax system and our broken immigration system creates jobs."
#98
"But do I think that our actions in anyway violate the War Powers Resolution, the answer is no."
#99
"Community colleges play an important role in helping people transition between careers by providing the retooling they need to take on a new career."
#100
"And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra. Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans."
#101
"We've protected thousands of people in Libya; we have not seen a single U.S. casualty; there's no risks of additional escalation. This operation is limited in time and in scope."
#102
"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."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
And now we are fighting just to keep our country free... free to vote... free to marry... free to choose. We need to stop burning books and start embracing our freedom before it's too late.
#103
"I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95 percent of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class."
#104
"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."
#107
“There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.”
#108
“As husbands and fathers and brothers, we have to step up, because every girl’s life matters. Every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons. Every woman should be able to go about her day — to walk the streets or ride the bus — and be safe, and be treated with respect and dignity. She deserves that.”
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
And this means every girl... Asian and Black, Muslim and Sikh .... all girls and women.
#109
“If you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like or who you love.”
#110
"With the changing economy, no one has lifetime employment. But community colleges provide lifetime employability."
#111
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
We have long been a nation of SUVs telling nations of bicycles how they should behave.
#112
"Now, as a nation, we don't promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That's an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up."
#113
"We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent."
#114
"The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable."
#115
"It's time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent."
#116
"It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label."
#117
"We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States."
#118
"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."
#119
"What I believe is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but what I also believe is that we have an obligation to make sure that gays and lesbians have the rights of citizenship that afford them visitations to hospitals, that allow them to be, to transfer property between partners, to make certain that they're not discriminated on the job."
#120
"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."
#121
"On every front there are clear answers out there that can make this country stronger, but we're going to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling. Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future."
#122
"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."
#123
"The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."
#124
"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."
#125
"As a nuclear power - as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the United States has a moral responsibility to act."
#126
"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."
#127
"First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us - especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change? Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?"
#128
"What I worry about would be that you essentially have two chambers, the House and the Senate, but you have simply, majoritarian, absolute power on either side. And that's just not what the founders intended."
#129
"We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation. The fact is, in too many parts of this country, a deep distrust exists between law enforcement and communities of color. Some of this is the result of the legacy of racial discrimination in this country."
#130
"While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving into that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police, only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos."
#131
"What is a danger is that we stay stuck in a new normal where unemployment rates stay high, people who have jobs see their incomes go up, businesses make big profits. But they're learned to do more with less, and so they don't hire."
#132
"I will never turn Medicare into a voucher. No American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. They should retire with the care and dignity they have earned."
#134
"I've been fighting with Acorn, alongside Acorn, on issues you care about, my entire career."
#135
"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."
#136
"It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was al-Qaeda. We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust."
#137
"I know that there are millions of Americans who are content with their health care coverage - they like their plan and, most importantly, they value their relationship with their doctor."
#138
"I don't care whether you're driving a hybrid or an SUV. If you're headed for a cliff, you have to change direction. That's what the American people called for in November, and that's what we intend to deliver."
#139
"I think there are a whole host of things that are civil rights, and then there are other things - such as traditional marriage - that, I think, express a community's concern and regard for a particular institution."
#140
"Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead - they call us."
What do you think ?
Lis Daglish 2 years ago
Such an articulate, dignified, honourable man. The orange turd was nothing beside him.
HeySuze Christ 2 years ago
Where is the quote about the bank bailout and turning Syria into a parking lot?
Lis Daglish 2 years ago
Such an articulate, dignified, honourable man. The orange turd was nothing beside him.
HeySuze Christ 2 years ago
Where is the quote about the bank bailout and turning Syria into a parking lot?
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