Background Image
I Came In With A Healthy Skepticism About These Programs. My Team Evaluated Them. We Scrubbed Them Thoroughly. We Actually Expanded Some Of The Oversight, Increased Some Of The Safeguards. But My Assessment, And My Team's Assessment Was That They Help Us Prevent Terrorist Attacks. In The Abstract, You Can Complain About 'big Brother' And How This Is A Potential Program Run Amok. But When You Actually Look At The Details, Then, I Think We've Struck The Right Balance.
-Barack Obama
Please Wait....
Translating....

I Came In With

Barack Obama
I Came In With A Healthy Skepticism About These Programs. My Team Evaluated Them. We Scrubbed Them Thoroughly. We Actually Expanded Some Of The Oversight, Increased Some Of The Safeguards. But My Assessment, And My Team's Assessment Was That They Help Us Prevent Terrorist Attacks. In The Abstract, You Can Complain About 'big Brother' And How This Is A Potential Program Run Amok. But When You Actually Look At The Details, Then, I Think We've Struck The Right Balance.
Views: 5
Topic
Running
Brother
Team
More From Barack Obama
I Think You Need To Have People Around You Who Can Remind You That, Actually, What You Just Said Makes No Sense. Fortunately, I Have My Wife To Do That Continually.
Thinking
Wife
People
Together We Can Change Our Culture For The Better By Ending Violence Against Women And Girls, Artists Have A Unique Power To Change Minds And Attitudes And Get Us Thinking And Talking About What Matters, And All Of Us, In Our Lives, Have The Power To Set An Example. Join Our Campaign To Stop This Violence.
Change
Girl
Attitude
I Want To Deal With The Homeless Situation Here In Washington, D.c. I Think It Is A Travesty That We've Got Men - And Increasingly Women - Families, Across The Street And The In Shadow Of This Great Capital, That Shows A Lack Of Concern, Not Just For The Capital, But For American, When We Are Allowing Something Like That To Happen.
Men
Thinking
Shadow
Tonight, Let Us Think Back To The Sense Of Unity That Prevailed On 9/11.
Powerful
Thinking
Unity
The Best Education I Received Was Working With People In The Community On A Grassroots Basis. Because What It Taught Me Was That Ordinary People, When They Are Working Together Can Do Extraordinary Things.
People
Community
Working Together
We Are Still The America That Does The Hard Things, That Does The Great Things. We're The Nation That Always Dared To Dream. We're The Nation That Dared To Take Risks.
Dream
America
Risk
I Love Listening To These Guys Give Us Lectures About Debt And Deficits. I Inherited A Trillion-dollar Deficit. ... This Notion That Somehow We Caused The Deficits Is Just Wrong. It's Just Not True. ... If They Start Trying To Give You A Bunch Of Facts And Figures Suggesting That It's True, What They're Not Telling You Is They Baked All This Stuff Into The Cake With Those Tax Cuts And A Prescription Drug Plan That They Didn't Pay For And The Wars.
War
Cutting
Cake
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.
Country
Winning
Two
Ultimately There Is No Dividing Line Between Main Street And Wall Street. We Will Rise Or We Will Fall Together As One Nation.
Wall
Fall
Together
Long Before Being Nerdy Was Cool, There Was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard Was A Lifelong Lover Of The Arts And Humanities, A Supporter Of The Sciences, Generous With His Talent And His Time. And Of Course, Leonard Was Spock. Cool, Logical, Big-eared And Level-headed, The Center Of Star Trek’s Optimistic, Inclusive Vision Of Humanity’s Future. I Loved Spock.
Art
Stars
Optimistic
I'm Very Consistent About Spending Time With Family. And When You Have Dinner With Your Daughters - They'll Keep You In Your Place And They'll Teach You Something About Perspective.
Daughter
Perspective
Dinner
For The Young People Here: Practicality Is A Good Thing. There Are Times Where Compromise Is Necessary. That's Part Of Wisdom. But It's Also Important To Hang On To What You Believe.
Believe
Memorable
People
We Have Concerns Whenever We See People Who Have Large Stockpiles Of Weapons, Or Appear To Be In The Process Of Accumulating Weapons And Ammunition.
People
Weapons
Process
[michelle Obama] Was The Hardest Sell. And She Never Fully Embraced Being In The Public Spotlight, Which Is Ironic, Given How Good She Is.
Ironic
Spotlight
Given
The Ideals And The Values Of The United States Inspired The Entire World. I Don't Think Any Of Us Can Say That Our Standing In The World Now, The Way Children Around The World Look At The United States, Is The Same. And Part Of What We Need To Do Is To Send A Message To The World That We Are Going To Invest In Issues Like Education, We Are Going To Invest In Issues That Relate To How Ordinary People Are Able To Live Out Their Dreams. And That Is Something That I'm Going To Be Committed To As President Of The United States.
Dream
Children
Thinking
Cathleen Falsani: What Is Sin? Barack Obama: Being Out Of Alignment With My Values.
Islam
Sin
Christianity
I Don't Want To Pit Red America Against Blue America. I Want To Be President Of The United States Of America.
Blue
America
Broken Promises
It's True That I Have Not Been Able To Completely Close Guantanamo, But We've Drastically Reduced The Population From 700 Or So To Around 60 Now.
Population
Able
Guantanamo
You And I, As Citizens, Have The Obligation To Shape The Debates Of Our Time, Not Only With The Votes We Cast, But The Voices We Lift In Defense Of Our Most Ancient Values And Enduring Ideas.
Ideas
Voice
Pro Life
Throughout History, The Arts And Humanities Have Helped Men And Women Around The Globe Grapple With The Most Challenging Questions And Come To Know The Most Basic Truths. In Our Increasingly Interconnected World, The Arts Play An Important Role In Both Shaping The Character That Defines Us And Reminding Us Of Our Shared Humanity. This Month, We Celebrate Our Nation's Arts And Humanities, And We Recommit To Ensuring All Americans Can Access And Experience Them.
Art
Character
Carpe Diem
Good Afternoon, Everybody-ugh, Jesus, Gimme A Sec.
Jesus
Afternoon
Ugh
I Will Sign A Universal Health-care Bill Into Law By The End Of My First Term As President That Will Cover Every American And Cut The Cost Of A Typical Family’s Premium By Up To $2,500 A Year.
Cutting
Years
Law
I Think It Is Important First Of All That The President Of The United States Underscores Our Commitment To Partnering With Countries Around The World, Even Though We're Not Intimidated By Terrorist Organisations.
Country
Commitment
Thinking
If You Don't Have Any Fresh Ideas, Then You Use Stale Tactics To Scare The Voters. If You Don't Have A Record To Run On, Then You Paint Your Opponent As Someone People Should Run From. You Make A Big Election About Small Things.
Running
Ideas
People
Young People Recognize The Big Challenges That Are Coming Up.
People
Challenges
Youth
I Have Great Respect For Both President Obama And The Office That He Holds
Israel
Office
President
My Hope Would Be That, As We're Moving Through The World Right Now, We're Able To Get That Psychological Or Emotional Peace By Seeing Very Concretely Our Kids Doing Better And Being More Hopeful And Having Greater Opportunities.
Moving
Kids
Opportunity
We Buy Our Own Toilet Paper Even Here In The White House.
White
House
Paper
My Presidency Is Not Over. I've Got Another Five Years Coming Up.
Years
Presidency
Five
This Is Our Moment...while We Breathe, We Hope. And Where We Are Met With Cynicism And Doubts And Those Who Tell Us That We Can't, We Will Respond With That Timeless Creed That Sums Up The Spirit Of A People: Yes, We Can.
Yes We Can
People
Doubt
As You Get Older, Your Mind Gets A Little More Set. And It Needs The Poking And Prodding And Breaking Through Of Stereotypes That I Think Young People Provide.
Thinking
People
Mind
We Live In A Moment When The Dream Of Equal Opportunity Is Within Reach.
Dream
Opportunity
Moments
My Second Piece Of Advice Is To Stay Global. As The World Continues To Change And We Become More Connected To Each Other, Globalization Will Bring Both Benefits And Disruptions To Our Lives. But Either Way, It's Here, And It's Not Going Away.
Inspiring
Advice
Going Away
I See Donald Trump As A Phenomenon Of An Expression Of Certain Fears, Certain Resentments, That Have Been A Running Thread In American History.
Running
Expression
Resentment
I Believe That The U.s. Can And Should Be A Global Leader In The Development Of Alternative Energy Sources.
Believe
Leader
Energy
As I Reflect Back On What's Worked For Me In This [presidential] Office It's Been That I've Gotten People Who Maybe Didn't Believe In The Process To Get Engaged. Ironically, I've Even Gotten The Other Side That Maybe Didn't Believe In The Process To Get Engaged.
Believe
People
Office
Nowhere Is It Ordained That History Moves In A Straight Line.
Moving
History
Lines
You Know, One Of The Things I Think You Understand As President Is You're Held Responsible For Everything, But You Don't Always Have Control Of Everything, Right?
Thinking
President
Responsible
I Am Confident That We Will One Day End The Scourge Of Modern Slavery, Because I Believe In Those Committed To This Issue.
Believe
Issues
One Day
I Don't Presume To Have Knowledge Of What Happens After I Die. But I Feel Very Strongly That Whether The Reward Is In The Here And Now Or In The Hereafter, The Aligning Myself To My Faith And My Values Is A Good Thing.
Christian Values
Mind Blowing
Islam
The President Is Eager To Get To Work And Looks Forward To Working With The New Congress On Policies That Will Make Sure Middle-class Americans Are Sharing In The Economic Recovery, But The President Is Clear That He Will Not Let This Congress Undo Important Protections Gained -- Particularly In Areas Of Health Care, Wall Street Reform And The Environment.
Wall
Health
Recovery
I'm Skeptical That [the Republicans] Can Do [something Better With Healthcare] Mainly Because For Seven Years Now, Including When We First Tried To Pass Health Care, I Said To 'em, "okay, If [obamacare] Doesn't Work Tell Me What Does."
Years
Obamacare
Doe
Some People In D.c. Talk About Me Like A Dog.
Dog
People
America Leads - Not With Bluster, But With Persistent, Steady Resolve.
America
Bluster
Resolve
And When It Comes To Developing The High Standards We Need, It's Time To Stop Working Against Our Teachers And Start Working With Them. Teachers Don't Go In To Education To Get Rich. They Don't Go In To Education Because They Don't Believe In Their Children. They Want Their Children To Succeed, But We've Got To Give Them The Tools. Invest In Early Childhood Education. Invest In Our Teachers And Our Children Will Succeed.
Education
Teacher
Children
I Could Say, As A Member Of Congress, We Usually Get An Alert If Something Is Going To Happen At The Capitol.
Congress
Members
Happens
[with Donald Trump] We Are Moving Into An Era Where A Lot Of People Get Their Information Through Tweets And Sound Bites And Some Headline That Comes Over Their Phone.
Moving
Phones
People
In The End, No Amount Of American Forces Can Solve The Political Differences That Lie At The Heart Of Somebody Else's Civil War.
War
Lying
Heart
America Is, Is No Longer, Uh, What It, Uh, Could Be, Uh, What It Was Once Was, Uh, And I Say To Myself, Uh, I Don't Want That Future, Uh, For My Children.
Children
America
Want
The Time To Fix Our Broken Immigration System Is Now... We Need Stronger Enforcement On The Border And At The Workplace... But For Reform To Work, We Also Must Respond To What Pulls People To America... Where We Can Reunite Families, We Should. Where We Can Bring In More Foreign-born Workers With The Skills Our Economy Needs, We Should.
Skills
America
People
The Only People Who Don't Want To Disclose The Truth Are The People With Something To Hide.
People
Want
Donald Trump Is Like Hillary Clinton Said, A Man You Can Bait With A Tweet Is Not A Man You Can Trust With Nuclear Weapons. You Can`t Do It.
Men
Tweet
Clinton
That's Why I Stand Here Tonight. Because For Two Hundred And Thirty Two Years, At Each Moment When That Promise Was In Jeopardy, Ordinary Men And Women - Students And Soldiers, Farmers And Teachers, Nurses And Janitors - Found The Courage To Keep It Alive.
Teacher
4th Of July
Men
I Think At A Certain Age I Became Conscious Of The Power Of Words. And It Was Fairly Late. I Was Kind Of A Goofball - But I Was Always Subconsciously Thinking About Issues.
Thinking
Issues
Age
It's Not Surprising Then They Get Bitter, They Cling To Guns Or Religion Or Antipathy To People Who Aren't Like Them, Or Anti-immigrant Sentiment, Or Anti-trade Sentiment, As A Way To Explain Their Frustrations.
Powerful
Frustration
Gun
[ William Ayers] Is An Example Of What I'm Talking About. This Is A Guy Who Lives In My Neighborhood, Who's A Professor Of English In Chicago Who I Know And Who I Have Not Received Some Official Endorsement From. He's Not Somebody Who I Exchange Ideas From On A Regular Basis.
Talking
Ideas
Guy
Insurance Companies, Drug Companies Are Going To Have To Be Ponying Up, Partly Because Right Now They're Receiving Huge Subsidies.
Drug
Receiving
Subsidies
In Dealing With Those Nations That Break Rules And Laws, I Believe That We Must Develop Alternatives To Violence That Are Tough Enough To Actually Change Behavior -- For If We Want A Lasting Peace, Then The Words Of The International Community Must Mean Something. Those Regimes That Break The Rules Must Be Held Accountable. Sanctions Must Exact A Real Price. Intransigence Must Be Met With Increased Pressure -- And Such Pressure Exists Only When The World Stands Together As One.
Real
Believe
Mean
Perfect Is Unattainable. Better Is Possible.
Perfect
Unattainable
One Thing I Don't Like Is When You Disrespect The Law.
Law
Disrespect
One Thing
The World Is Complicated And Full Of Grays, But There's Still Truth There To Be Found.
World
Complicated
Found
We're Starting To Make Some Progress. But There's Still Gonna Be Some Pain Out There. If I Don't Have This Done In Three Years, Then There's Gonna Be A One-term Proposition.
Pain
Years
Progress
I Can Say Across Europe That Many Principles That Have Been Taken For Granted Here Around Free Speech, And Around Civil Liberties And An Independent Judiciary, And Fighting Corruption, Those Are Principles That, You Know, Not Perfectly But Generally, We Have Tried To Apply Not Just In Our Own Country But Also With Respect To Our Foreign Policy.
Country
Taken
Independent
We Have To Enforce The Laws We've Already Got, Make Sure That We're Keeping Guns Out Of The Hands Of Criminals, Those Who Are Mentally Ill. I Also Share Your Belief That Weapons That Were Designed For Soldiers In War Theaters Don't Belong On Our Streets. And So What I'm Trying To Do Is To Get A Broader Conversation About How Do We Reduce The Violence Generally.
War
Gun
Hands
I've Been Called Worse On The Basketball Court.
Basketball
Court
Basketball Court
The Size Of Your Paycheck Shouldn’t Determine Your Child’s Future.
Children
Size
Paychecks
I Don't Want To Make Promises, Not Knowing What The Situation's Going To Be Three Or Four Years Out.
Knowing
Years
Promise
I Think The Turks' Willingness To Take Seriously Action On The Borders To Stop The Flow Of Foreign Fighters Joining Isil Is Significant.
Thinking
Borders
Joining
All People Should Be Treated Equally, Regardless Of Who They Are Or Who They Love.
People
Should
Treated
America, We Are Better Than These Last Eight Years. We Are A Better Country Than This.
Country
Eight
Years
Now, The Iranian People Are A Great People, And Persian Civilization Is A Great Civilization. Iran Has Acted In Ways That's Not Conducive To Peace And Prosperity In The Region: Their Threats Against Israel; Their Pursuit Of A Nuclear Weapon Which Could Potentially Set Off An Arms Race In The Region That Would Make Everybody Less Safe; Their Support Of Terrorist Organizations In The Past - None Of These Things Have Been Helpful.
Past
People
Support
The Soldier 's Courage And Sacrifice Is Full Of Glory , Expressing Devotion To Country , To Cause, To Comrades In Arms. But War Itself Is Never Glorious , And We Must Never Trumpet It As Such.
Country
War
Sacrifice
I Think That To The Extent That We Focus On Problems Where We Can Build A Moral And A Political Consensus, Then I Think That We Move The Country Forward And When We Are Divided And Our Politics Is Focused On Dividing, Then I Think We're Less Successful, Not Just From The Perspective Of The Democratic Party Or The Republican Party But From The Perspective Of The Nation As A Whole.
Country
Party
Moving
We've Come To Be Consumed By A 24-hour, Slash-and-burn, Negative Ad, Bickering, Small-minded Politics That Doesn't Move Us Forward. Sometimes One Side Is Up And The Other Side Is Down. But There's No Sense That They Are Coming Together In A Common-sense, Practical, Nonideological Way To Solve The Problems That We Face.
Moving
Common Sense
Political
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.
Love
Believe
Blessed
In America, We're Getting Too Comfortable With Our Ability To Take Kinetic Strikes Around The World Without Having Enough Process To Avoid Consistently The Kinds Of Civilian Casualties That Can End Up Actually Hurting Us In The War Against Radicalization.
Hurt
War
America
Companies In Mexico Are Not Going To Do Well If They Don't Have Some Connection To Not Just Markets, But Also Suppliers And Technology From The United States.
Technology
United States
Connections
At Various Periods In American History, People Get Pretty Rambunctious When It Comes To Our Democratic Debate.
People
Debate
American History
When You're Out Of Work And You Can't Buy A Home Or You've Lost Your Home And You're Worried About Paying Your Bills, Then You Become More Worried About What Other Folks Are Doing. And Sometimes That Organizes Itself Around Kind Of A Tribal Attitude, And Issues Of Race Become More Prominent.
Attitude
Home
Race
Ultimately, I Think The Equal Protection Clause Does Guarantee Same-sex Marriage In All Fifty States.
Sex
Pride
Gay
There's No One Who I Believe Has Ever Captured The Soul Of America More Profoundly Than Abraham Lincoln Has.
Believe
America
Soul
Both Our Nations [malasian And American] Are Committed To Building A Regional Order Where All Nations Play By The Same Rules And Disputes Are Resolved Peacefully And This Visit Will Be An Opportunity To Continue Deepening Our Cooperation On Behalf Of Regional Stability And Prosperity.
Opportunity
Order
Play
We Have To Have A President Who Is Clear That You Don't Deal With Russia Based On Staring Into His Eyes And Seeing His Soul. You Deal With Russia Based On, What Are Your - What Are The National Security Interests Of The United States Of America? And We Have To Recognize That The Way They've Been Behaving Lately Demands A Sharp Response From The International Community And Our Allies.
Eye
Community
Soul
I Try To Explain To Them About The Aloha Spirit. And It's That Spirit That I Am Absolutely Convinced Is What America Is Looking For Right Now.
America
Trying
Aloha
Empathy Is A Quality Of Character That Can Change The World.
Character
Empathy
Quality
When You've Got A Economy In Which 40 Percent Of Economic Growth Is Happening In The Financial Sector, That Turns Out That Was All An Illusion, That It Wasn't Growth Based On Real Products And Services, But Just A Bunch Of Paper Shuffling And A House Of Cards, Then What's Gonna Emerge, At Some Point, Is A Sense Of Resentment, A Sense That The System's Rigged, And It's Not Working For Ordinary People. And It's Not Fulfilling The Basic American Dream.
Dream
Real
People
I Think That America Has To Stand With Democracy.
Thinking
America
Democracy
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.
Country
Hard Work
People
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.
Party
Math
Long
My Main Message Is To The Parents Of Trayvon Martin. You Know, If I Had A Son, He'd Look Like Trayvon.
Son
Parent
Looks
My Abiding Faith In The American People Is Undiminished. That's Still What Drives Me Every Single Day.
Abiding Faith
People
Abiding
Contrary To The Rumours You Have Heard, I Was Not Born In A Manger. I Was Actually Born On Krypton And Sent Here By My Father, Jor-el, To Save The Planet Earth.
Father
Krypton
Rumor
Ours Is Not The First Generation To Understand The Dire Need For Health Reform. And I Am Not The First President To Take Up This Cause, But I Am Determined To Be The Last.
President
Reform
Needs
I Delivered A Clear And Forceful Message That Although We Recognize Russia's Intelligence Gathering Will Sometimes Take Place Even If We Don't Like It, There's A Difference Between That Than Either Meddling With Elections Or Going After Private Organizations Or Commercial Entities, And That We're Monitoring It Carefully, And We Will Respond Appropriately If And When We See This Happening.
Ifs And
Organization
Differences
In Africa, You Often See That The Difference Between A Village Where Everybody Eats And A Village Where People Starve Is Government. One Has A Functioning Government, And The Other Does Not. Which Is Why It Bothers Me When I Hear People Say That Government Is The Enemy. They Don't Understand Its Fundamental Role.
Government
Differences
People
Whether Our Forebears Were Strangers Who Crossed The Atlantic Or The Pacific Or The Rio Grande, We Are Here Only Because This Country Welcomed Them In And Taught Them That To Be An American Is About Something More Than What We Look Like, Or What Our Last Names Are, Or How We Worship.
Country
Names
Looks
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.
Thinking
Rights
Community
Community Colleges Play An Important Role In Helping People Transition Between Careers By Providing The Retooling They Need To Take On A New Career.
Powerful
College
Play
Third, We Will Continue To Draw On Our Substantial Counterterrorism Capabilities To Prevent Isil Attacks. Working With Our Partners, We Will Redouble Our Efforts To Cut Off Its Funding; Improve Our Intelligence; Strengthen Our Defenses; Counter Its Warped Ideology; And Stem The Flow Of Foreign Fighters Into - And Out Of - The Middle East. And In Two Weeks, I Will Chair A Meeting Of The Un Security Council To Further Mobilize The International Community Around This Effort.
Islamic
Cutting
Two
Around The World, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela -- What They Did Was Hard. It Takes Time. It Takes More Than A Single Term. It Takes More Than A Single President. It Takes More Than A Single Individual.
President
World
Individual
You Know, I Have More Than Enough To Do Without Having To Worry About The Financial System.
Worry
Financial
Enough
We're Going To Have To Invest In The American People Again, In Tax Cuts For The Middle Class, In Health Care For All Americans, And College For Every Young Person Who Wants To Go. In Businesses That Can Create The New Energy Economy Of The Future. In Policies That Will Lift Wages And Will Grow Our Middle Class. These Are The Policies I Have Fought For My Entire Career.
Cutting
College
Class
I Do Not Accept That We Cannot Find A Common Sense Way To Preserve Our Traditions, Including Our Basic Second Amendment Freedoms And The Rights Of Law Abiding Gun Owners, While At The Same Time Reducing The Gun Violence That Unleashes So Much Mayhem On A Regular Basis.
Gun
Rights
Law
Lord Bendtner Is The Best Player Of All Times
Player
Lord
All Time
We Have Real Enemies In The World. These Enemies Must Be Found. They Must Be Pursued And They Must Be Defeated.
Real
Patriotic
Enemy
For We, The People, Understand That Our Country Cannot Succeed When A Shrinking Few Do Very Well And A Growing Many Barely Make It.
Country
People
Pro Life
Like It Or Not, We Have To Have A Financial System That Is Healthy And Functioning.
Healthy
Financial
Financial System
Citizenship Means Standing Up For Everyone's Right To Vote.***
Mean
Vote
Citizenship
I Think It's Perfectly Consistent To Say That I Want My Government To Be Operating For All Faiths And All Peoples, Including Atheists And Agnostics, While Also Insisting That There Are Values Tha Tinform My Politics That Are Appropriate To Talk About.
Atheist
Thinking
Government
Because Of The Civil Rights Movement, New Doors Of Opportunity And Education Swung Open For Everybody ... Not Just For Blacks And Whites, But Also Women And Latinos; And Asians And Native Americans; And Gay Americans And Americans With A Disability. They Swung Open For You, And They Swung Open For Me. And That's Why I'm Standing Here Today-because Of Those Efforts, Because Of That Legacy.
Inspiring
Native American
Gay
I'm Measuring My Actions Against That Inner Voice That For Me At Least Is Audible, Is Active, It Tells Me Where I Think I'm On Track And Where I Think I'm Off Track.
Thinking
Voice
Track
The World Thanks You For Sharing Nelson Mandela With Us.
Thank You
World
Thanks
We Need To Eradicate The Slander That Says A Black Youth With A Book Is Acting White.
Book
Black Youth
White
If Any Individual Who Objects To Government Policy Can Take It In Their Own Hands To Publicly Disclose Classified Information, Then We Will Never Be Able To Keep Our People Safe Or Conduct Foreign Policy.
Government
Hands
Nsa
When It Comes To Immigration, I Think Americans Expect That Our Immigration Process Is Orderly And It Is Legal.
Thinking
Immigration
Process
I Think It's Very Important To Remember That So Much Of The Work That Gets Done Between Countries Is Not Done At The Level Of Presidents, But Is Done Within Various Agencies, Whether It's Law Enforcement Or Economic Ministries. And When They Establish Relationships And Systems Of Communications And Shared Projects And Shared Visions, Those Structures Continue Even After Any Particular President Is Gone. It Builds Trust And Understanding Between Countries That Are Critically Important.
Country
Communication
Thinking
We Can't Have Special Interests Sitting Shotgun. We Gotta Have Middle Class Families Up In Front. We Don't Mind The Republicans Joining Us. They Can Come For The Ride, But They Gotta Sit In Back.
Class
Mind
Special
Some Heinous Crimes Justify The Ultimate Punishment.
Punishment
Crime
Justify
A Central Notion In The Affordable Care Act Was We Had An Inefficient System With A Lot Of Waste That Didn't Also Deliver The Kind Of Quality That Was Needed That Often Put Health Care Providers In A Box Where They Wanted To Do Better For Their Patients, But Financial Incentives Were Skewed The Other Way... We Don't Need To Reinvent The Wheel; You're Already Figuring Out What Works To Reduce Infections In Hospitals Or Help Patients With Complicated Needs.
Health
Quality
Needs
Corporations Aren’t People. People Are People.
People
Corporations
A Lot Of Pictures Of Yourself - You Know, It's A Little Narcissistic.
Narcissistic
Pictures Of Yourself
Littles
My Strong Preference Has Always Been To Legislate When I Can Get Legislation Done.
Strong
Done
Preference
So Many Of My Staff Is Young Enough That They're Going To Do Amazing Things. And I'm Going To Be Helping Them Try To Do Them.
Trying
Helping
Enough
I Don't Know The Facts Of When Joe Soptic's Wife Got Sick Or When She Died.
Sick
Wife
Facts
Cutting Our Education Budget, That's Not A Smart Choice. That Will Not Help America Compete With China.
Smart
Cutting
America
I Warn Young People That I Interact With About This - You Get Into Unrealistic Expectations Where You Think That, "oh, We're Gonna Eliminate Racism Like That. After Obama's Elected How Could There Be Any Racism?".
Thinking
Racism
People
We Want Our Children To Live In An America That Isn't Burdened By Debt, That Isn't Weakened By Inequality, That Isn't Threatened By The Destructive Power Of A Warming Planet.
Children
America
Debt
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.
Anniversary
Jobs
Fighting
In Your Generation, Everybody Is Constantly Bombarded With All Kinds Of Different Input From Different Cultures, And That's A Strength, That's A Positive Thing. That's Why I Remain Confident About America's Ability To Compete In The World, Precisely Because We've Got A Little Bit Of Everybody In This Country.
Country
America
Different
But What I Would Say To My Successor Is That It Is Important Not Just To Shoot But To Aim. And It Is Important, In This Seat, To Make Sure That You're Making Your Best Judgments Based On Data, Intelligence, The Information That's Coming From Your Commanders And Folks On The Ground And You're Not Being Swayed By Politics.
Data
Important
Information
The Underlying Struggle - Between Worlds Of Plenty And Worlds Of Want; Between The Modern And The Ancient; Between Those Who Embrace Our Teeming, Colliding, Irksome Diversity, While Still Insisting On A Set Of Values That Binds Us Together, And Those Who Would Seek, Under Whatever Flag Or Slogan Or Sacred Text, A Certainty And Simplification That Justifies Cruelty Toward Those Not Like Us.
Struggle
Diversity
Together
After A Breakthrough Year For America, Our Economy Is Growing And Creating Jobs At The Fastest Pace Since 1999.
Jobs
Years
Creating
To Those Of You Mourn The Loss Of A Loved One Today, My Heart Goes Out To You. We Remember That The Blessings That We Enjoy As Americans Came At A Dear Cost. Our Nation Owes A Debt To Its Fallen Heroes That We Cannot Ever Fully Repay. But We Can Honor Their Sacrifice, And We Must. We Must Honor It In Our Own Lives By Holding Their Memories Close To Our Hearts, And Heeding The Example They Set.
Memorial Day
Memories
Hero
Clem (clementa Pinckney) Understood That Justice Grows Out Of Recognition Of Ourselves, In Each Other.
Justice
Recognition
Grows
The Asia Pacific Is Home To Nearly Half The World's Population, A Growing Middle Class And Holds So Much Opportunity For Us All.
Home
Opportunity
Class
I Think That There's A Power In That [information Through Tweets And Sound Bites ]. There's Also A Danger, What Generates A Headline Or Stirs Up A Controversy And Gets Attention Isn't The Same As The Process Required To Actually Solve The Problem.
Thinking
Sound
Attention
Any So-called Leader Who Does Not Take This Issue (climate Change) Seriously Or Treats It Like A Joke Is Not Fit To Lead
Issues
Leader
Climate
I Don't Regret At All Saying That If I Saw Bashar Al-assad Using Chemical Weapons On His People That That Would Change My Assessments In Terms Of What We Were Or Were Not Willing To Do In Syria.
Regret
Assessment
People
As We Look Forward To The New Year, Let's Resolve To Recommit Ourselves To The Values We Share.
New Year
Years
Looks
Societies In Which We Are Able To Unify Ourselves Around Values And Ideals And Character And How We Treat Each Other And Cooperation And Innovation, Ultimately Are Gonna Be More Successful Than Societies That Don't.
Character
Successful
Innovation
I Would Have I Think Made A Bigger Mistake If I Had Said, "eh, Chemical Weapons. That Doesn't Really Change My Calculus." I Think It Was Important For Me As President Of The United States To Send A Message That In Fact There Is Something Different About Chemical Weapons [in Syria].
Mistake
Thinking
Important
There's No Doubt That I'm A Better President Now Than When I First Took Office. This Is Not A Job Where There's A Manual, And Over Time You Get A Better Sense Of What's Important, What's Not, How To See Around Corners And Anticipate Problems, As Opposed To Just Managing Problems Once They've Arrived.
Jobs
Office
Doubt
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.
Jobs
Believe
Gay
You're The Reason Why Selfless Soldiers Won't Be Kicked Out Of The Military Because Of Who They Are Or Who They Love.
Military
Gay
Soldier
I Have Muslim Members Of My Family. I Have Lived In Muslim Countries.
Family
Country
My Family
If You Hear What People Had To Say About Abraham Lincoln Or What They Had To Say About Fdr, Or What They Had To Say About Ronald Reagan When He First Came In And Was Trying To Change Our Approach To Government, That Elicited Huge Responses.
Government
People
Trying
I Think It Is Important For Europe To Understand That Even Though I Am President And George Bush Is Not President, Al Qaeda Is Still A Threat.
Thinking
Europe
President
We Still Have Sanctions On Iran For Its Violations Of Human Rights, For Its Support Of Terrorism And For Its Ballistic Missile Program. And We Will Continue To Enforce These Sanctions Vigorously. Iran's Recent Missile Test, For Example, Was A Violation Of Its International Obligations.
Rights
Iran
Support
For The Sake Of Our Security, Our Economy And Our Planet, We Must Have The Courage And Commitment To Change.
Change
Commitment
Sake
I Hope We Can All Agree That, Instead Of Continuing To Subsidize Yesterday's Energy Sources. We Need To Invest In Tomorrow's.
Yesterday
Energy
Needs
The American People Are Both Anxious For Change. We're In A Time Of Flux.
People
Flux
Anxious
The United States, We Know What Happens When We Start Dividing Ourselves Along Lines Of Race Or Religion Or Ethnicity.
Ethnicity
Race
Lines
To Restore America's Competitiveness, We Must Recruit A New Generation Of Science And Technology Leaders By Investing In Diversity.
Technology
America
Diversity
I'm Not Sure We Have The Right Strategy In Afghanistan. Let Me Think This Over For A Few Months.
Thinking
Months
Strategy
I Absolutely Think That When We Talk About Family, Faith, Community, I Think It's Important For Democrats To Be Able To Connect With Folks Where They Live.
Thinking
Community
Important
Let's Make Two Things Clear: Isil Is Not "islamic." No Religion Condones The Killing Of Innocents, And The Vast Majority Of Isil's Victims Have Been Muslim. And Isil Is Certainly Not A State.
Islamic
Safe Haven
Two
Elections Matter And Voting Counts.
Voting
Matter
Election
If We're Trying To Protect The American Public, We Should Not Put In Place A Travel Ban.
Trying
Bans
Should
We Have A Historic Opportunity To Prevent The Spread Of Nuclear Weapons In Iran, And To Do So Peacefully, With The International Community Firmly Behind Us. We Should Seize That Chance.
Opportunity
Iran
Community
It Was The Call Of Workers Who Organized; Women Who Reached For The Ballot; A President Who Chose The Moon As Our New Frontier; And A King Who Took Us To The Mountain Top And Pointed The Way To The Promised Land. Yes We Can!
Kings
Moon
Land
I Know That The Politics Around Trade Can Be Very Difficult - Especially In An Election Year.
Years
Election
Difficult
Number One, It Is Important That We Fix The Legal Immigration System, Because Right Now We've Got A Backlog That Means Years For People To Apply Legally. And What's Worse Is, We Keep On Increasing The Fees, So That If You've Got A Hard Working Immigrant Family, They've Got To Hire A Lawyer; They've Got To Pay Thousands Of Dollars In Fees. They Just Can't Afford It. And It's Discriminatory Against People Who Have Good Character, We Should Want In This Country, But Don't Have The Money. So We've Got To Fix That.
Country
Character
Mean
For People Who Have Health Insurance, We Can Provide Health Insurance Reforms That Make The Insurance They Have More Secure. And We Can Do That Mostly By Using Money That Every Expert Agrees Is Being Wasted And Is Currently In The Existing Health Care System.
People
Reform
Experts
On Syria, It's Clear That The Indiscriminate Attacks On Civilians By The [bashar] Assad Regime And Russia Will Only Worsen The Humanitarian Catastrophe And That A Negotiated End To The Conflict Is The Only Way To Achieve Lasting Peace In Syria.
Russia
Way
Conflict
[the Democrats] Have Got To Do A Better Job Of Showing Up.
Jobs
Showing Up
Democrat
We Are Greater Than The Sum Of Our Individual Ambitions
Ambition
Alaska
Individual
Michelle, I Love You. The Other Night, I Think The Entire Country Saw Just How Lucky I Am. Malia And Sasha, You Make Me So Proud…but Don't Get Any Ideas, You're Still Going To Class Tomorrow. And Joe Biden, Thank You For Being The Best Vice President I Could Ever Hope For.
Country
Morning
Love You
We Cannot Allow Internet Service Providers To Restrict The Best Access Or To Pick Winners And Losers In The Online Marketplace For Services And Ideas.
Ideas
Loser
Winner
I Have Been In Washington For A While Now, And Most Things Don't Surprise Me. The Fact That Twenty 6-year-olds Were Gunned Down In The Most Violent Fashion Possible And This Town Couldn't Do Anything About It Was Stunning To Me.
Leadership
Fashion
Party
It's Useful For Activists Just To Be Out There To Keep You Mindful And Not Get Complacent, Even If Ultimately You Think Some Of Their Criticism Is Misguided.
Thinking
Criticism
Misguided
You Bomb Isil. You're Not Trying To Bomb Innocent People. And That Requires Intelligence And Confidence In Our Military To Be Able To Develop The Kinds Of Targets That We Need. We're Already Doing Special Forces, Who Are Going To Help Us Gather That Intelligence And Help Advise And Assist And Train Local Forces So That They Can Go After Isil In Areas Like Raqqah And Mosul.
Military
People
Special
America Is A Country Of Strong Families And Strong Values. My Life's Been Blessed By Both.
Country
Strong
Blessed
The Values That We Talked About, The Values Democracy And Free Speech And International Norms And Rule Of Law, Respecting The Ability Of Other Countries To Determine Their Own Destiny And Preserve Their Sovereignty And Territorial Integrity. Things Are Not Something That We Can Set Aside.
Country
Integrity
Destiny
The Countries Who Out-educate Us Today Will Out-compete Us Tomorrow.
Education
Country
Today
But Let Me Perfectly Clear, Because I Know You'll Hear The Same Old Claims That Rolling Back These Tax Breaks Means A Massive Tax Increase On The American People: If Your Family Earns Less Than $250,000 A Year, You Will Not See Your Taxes Increased A Single Dime. I Repeat: Not One Single Dime.
Family
Mean
Years
We Remember The Specter Of Sectarian Violence -- Al Qaeda's Attacks On Mosques And Pilgrims, Militias That Carried Out Campaigns Of Intimidation And Campaigns Of Assassination. And In The Face Of Ancient Divisions, You Stood Firm To Help Those Iraqis Who Put Their Faith In The Future.
War
Campaigns
Division
I Am Convinced That Whenever We Exaggerate Or Demonize, Oversimplify Or Overstate Our Case, We Lose. Whenever We Dumb Down The Political Debate, We Lose. For It's Precisely The Pursuit Of Ideological Purity, The Rigid Orthodoxy And The Sheer Predictability Of Our Current Political Debate, That Keeps Us From Finding New Ways To Meet The Challenges We Face.
Political
Dumb
Challenges
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.
Jobs
New Normal
People
We Run Everything To Ground. If You See Something, Say Something. Report Your Concerns To Law Enforcement. They Will Be Looked At, They Will Be Reviewed.
Running
Law
Enforcement
One Of The Things You Discover About Being President Is That There Are All These Rules And Norms And Laws And You Got To Pay Attention To Them.
Law
President
Attention
This Kind Of Game In Which Anybody Who I Know, Regardless Of How Flimsy The Relationship Is, That Somehow Their Ideas Could Be Attributed To Me, I Think The American People Are Smarter Than That. They're Not Going To Suggest Somehow That That Is Reflective Of My Views, Because It Obviously Isn't.
Thinking
Views
Games
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.
Powerful
Patriotic
White
Here In Europe, I Think That There Are A Lot Of Young People Who Forget The Issues That Were At Stake During The Cold War.
War
Thinking
Europe
We're Going To Reverse A Trend That Is Killing Most Families In This Country, And That Is They're Having To Go In Their Pocket For More And More Money For Health Care Every Year.
Country
Years
Pockets
Here's The Truth: The Soviet Union Had Thousands Of Nuclear Weapons, And Iran Doesn't Have A Single One. But When The World Was On The Brink Of Nuclear Holocaust, Kennedy Talked To Khrushchev And He Got Those Missiles Out Of Cuba. Why Shouldn't We Have The Same Courage And The Confidence To Talk To Our Enemies? That's What Strong Countries Do, That's What Strong Presidents Do, That's What I'll Do When I'm President Of The United States Of America.
Country
Strong
Iran
We Are Defined Not By Our Borders But By Our Bonds.
Borders
Defined
If You Want A Model For What Is Possible, If You Want To See How To Build A Peaceful And Prosperous And Dynamic Society, Then Look At Berlin And Look At Germany.
Peaceful
Germany
Looks
To Everyone In This Congress Who Still Refuses To Raise The Minimum Wage, I Say This: If You Truly Believe You Could Work Full-time And Support A Family On Less Than $15,000 A Year, Go Try It. If Not, Vote To Give Millions Of The Hardest-working People In America A Raise.
Believe
Years
America
I've Never Said That Troops Should Be Withdrawn. What I've Said Is, Is That We've Got To Make Sure That We Secure And Execute The Rebuilding And Reconstruction Process Effectively And Properly, And I Don't Think We Should Have An Artificial Deadline When To Do That.
Thinking
Should Have
Iraq
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.
Dream
Believe
Hard Work
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.
Heart
Opportunity
Charity
It's Good To Get Fresh Legs In [the White House]. I Think That It Refreshes Our Democracy.
Thinking
White
House
Robin Williams Was An Airman, A Doctor, A Genie, A Nanny, A President, A Professor, A Bangarang Peter Pan, And Everything In Between. But He Was One Of A Kind. He Arrived In Our Lives As An Alien - But He Ended Up Touching Every Element Of The Human Spirit. He Made Us Laugh. He Made Us Cry. He Gave His Immeasurable Talent Freely And Generously To Those Who Needed It Most - From Our Troops Stationed Abroad To The Marginalized On Our Own Streets. The Obama Family Offers Our Condolences To Robin’s Family, His Friends, And Everyone Who Found Their Voice And Their Verse Thanks To Robin Williams.
Condolences
Voice
Doctors
Let Me Tell You Another Place To Look For Some Savings. We Are Currently Spending $10 Billion A Month In Iraq When They Have A $79 Billion Surplus. It Seems To Me That If We're Going To Be Strong At Home As Well As Strong Abroad, That We Have To Look At Bringing That War To A Close.
Strong
Money
War
So We Have A Choice To Make. We Can Once Again Let Washington's Bad Habits Stand In The Way Of Progress. Or We Can Pull Together And Say That In America, Our Destiny Isn't Written For Us But By Us. We Can Place Good Ideas Ahead Of Old Ideological Battles, And A Sense Of Purpose Above The Same Narrow Partisanship. We Can Act Boldly To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity And, Together, Write The Next Great Chapter In Our History And Meet The Test Of Our Time.
Writing
Destiny
Opportunity
We've Gotta Restore The American People's Confidence In The Ethics Process By Ensuring That Political Self-interest Can No Longer Prevent Politicians From Enforcing Ethics Rules.
Self
People
Political
It [the Constitution] Didn't Break Free From The Essential Constraints That Were Placed By The Founding Fathers In The Constitution, At Least As It's Been Interpreted, And The Warren Court Interpreted It In The Same Way That Generally The Constitution Is A Charter Of Negative Liberties. It Says What The States Can't Do To You, It Says What The Federal Government Can't Do To You, But It Doesn't Say What The Federal Government Or The State Government Must Do On Your Behalf. And That Hasn't Shifted.
Father
Government
Liberty
There’s No Doubt That There’s Some Folks Who Just Really Dislike Me Because They Don’t Like The Idea Of A Black President.
Dislike Me
Ideas
Black
I Think That The Democratic Party Is A Big Tent, Which Means That There Are Positions I May Not Agree With.
Party
Mean
Thinking
Keeping Our Military Strong Means Keepin' Our Families Strong.
Strong
Military
Mean
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


Trending Author
Jamie Bell
Robert McFarlane
M. Night Shyamalan
Jonathan Ames
Vinod Khosla
Francesco Guicciardini
Category
Information