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I Would Say Of All The Things That Have Happened During The Course Of My Presidency The Knowledge That You Have Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Who Have Been Killed, Millions Who Have Been Displaced, [makes Me] Ask Myself What Might I Have Done Differently Along The Course Of The Last Five, Six Years.
-Barack Obama
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I Would Say Of

Barack Obama
I Would Say Of All The Things That Have Happened During The Course Of My Presidency The Knowledge That You Have Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Who Have Been Killed, Millions Who Have Been Displaced, [makes Me] Ask Myself What Might I Have Done Differently Along The Course Of The Last Five, Six Years.
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Topic
Years
People
Done
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I Hope You Don’t Listen To This. I Hope You Choose To Broaden, And Not Contract, Your Ambit Of Concern.
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We Need To Internalize This Idea Of Excellence. Not Many Folks Spend A Lot Of Time Trying To Be Excellent.
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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.
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Thinking
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We Have To Think About Affirmative Action And Craft It In Such A Way Where Some Of Our Children, Who Are Advantaged, Aren't Getting More Favorable Treatment Than A Poor White Kid Who Struggled More.
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The Fact That We Are Here Today To Debate Raising America's Debt Limit Is A Sign Of Leadership Failure... It Is A Sign That We Now Depend On Ongoing Financial Assistance From Foreign Countries To Finance Our Government's Reckless Fiscal Policies.
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If Everybody Who Voted In 2008 Shows Up In 2010, We Will Win This Election. We Will Win This Election.
Winning
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For We Have Always Understood That When Times Change, So Must We, That Fidelity To Our Founding Principles Requires New Responses To New Challenges, That Preserving Our Individual Freedoms Ultimately Requires Collective Action.
Pro Life
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Of Course, Israel Cannot Be Expected To Negotiate With Anyone Who Is Dedicated To Its Destruction. But While I Know You Have Had Differences With The Palestinian Authority, I Believe That You Do Have A True Partner In President Abbas.
Believe
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Israel
I Always Tell Young People In Particular: Do Not Say That Nothing's Changed When It Comes To Race In America, Unless You Lived Through Being A Black Man In The 1950s Or '60s Or '70s.
Men
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America
Part Of American Leadership Is Making Sure That We're Doing Nation Building Here At Home. That Will Help Us Maintain The Kind Of American Leadership That We Need.
Home
Needs
Helping
You Always Hear About Waste And Abuse In Washington. And Usually It Doesn't Mean Much, Because Nobody Ever Finds Where That Waste And Abuse Is.
Mean
Abuse
Waste
So If Somebody Wants To Build A Coal-powered Plant, They Can; It's Just That It Will Bankrupt Them Because They're Going To Be Charged A Huge Sum For All That Greenhouse Gas That's Being Emitted.
Energy
Coal
Want
First And Foremost, It's Important To Remember That, From My Perspective At Least, My Most Important Legacy Was Making Sure That The World Didn't Go Into A Great Depression.
Perspective
Important
Legacy
We Long For Unity, But Are Unwilling To Pay The Price. But Of Course, True Unity Cannot Be So Easily Won. It Starts With A Change In Attitudes - A Broadening Of Our Minds, And A Broadening Of Our Hearts.
Attitude
Heart
Pay The Price
While We Have Come A Long Way Since The Stonewall Riots In 1969, We Still Have A Lot Of Work To Do. Too Often, The Issue Of Lgbt Rights Is Exploited By Those Seeking To Divide Us. But At Its Core, This Issue Is About Who We Are As Americans. It's About Whether This Nation Is Going To Live Up To Its Founding Promise Of Equality By Treating All Its Citizens With Dignity And Respect.
Gay
Rights
Issues
Even If The Criticism Is Not Always Perfectly Informed And In Some Cases I Would Deem Unfair, Just The Noise, Attention, Fuss Probably Keeps Powerful Officials Or Agencies On Their Toes. And They Should Be On Their Toes When It Comes To The Use Of Deadly Force.
Powerful
Agency
Criticism
You Didn't Elect Me To Tell You What You Wanted To Hear. You Elected Me To Tell You The Truth.
Truth
African American
President
Basically, I Am A Night Owl. My Wife Is An Early Bird, So She Goes To Bed Around 9:30, And My Kids Are In Bed About 8. So, If I Am Home, I Will Usually Start Writing About 9:30 And Go Till About 12:30 Or 1:30, Depending On What My Energy Level Is.
Kids
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Writing
The Interesting Thing About The African-american Experience In This Country Is That We Are Sort Of A Mongrel Of People. I Mean We're All Kind Of Mixed Up.
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People
Those Who Adhere To The Ideology Of Rejecting Israel’s Right To Exist, They Might As Well Reject The Earth Beneath Them Or The Sky Above, Because Israel Is Not Going Anywhere.
Israel
Sky
Earth
Obviously, If Congress Wants To Talk About Anything, We're Happy To Provide Information. We're Committed To Moving Forward Under The Current Act.
Moving
Want
Information
As President, I'll Invest In Renewable Energies Like Wind Power, Solar Power, And The Next Generation Of Homegrown Biofuels. That's How America Is Going To Free Itself From Our Dependence On Foreign Oil – Not Through Short-term Gimmicks, But Through A Real, Long-term Commitment To Transform Our Energy Sector.
Real
Commitment
Oil
Our Goal Is To Have A Country That's Not Divided By Race.
Country
Race
Racism
The Incredible Story Of Progress That Is America Has Always Been Built By Those Who Ask Why, What If, And Why Not. Our Schools Must Begin Instilling That Wonder In Our Children Again So That Their Generation Will Unite Around The Next Great Project Of Our Time, Whether It Be Declaring America Energy Independent Or Launching The Next Great Technological Revolution.
Inspiring
Children
School
Keeping The People's Government Open Is Not A Concession To Me. Keeping Vital Service Running And Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans On The Job Is Not Something You 'give' To The Other Side.
Running
Jobs
Government
We Live In A Moment When The Dream Of Equal Opportunity Is Within Reach.
Dream
Opportunity
Moments
We Can't Afford More Top-down Economics. What We Need Are Policies That Will Grow And Strengthen The Middle Class.
Top Down
Class
Needs
What You Have To Do Is To Look At What's Going To Keep Our Economic Growth Going, What's Going To Make Sure Jobs Are Being Created.
Jobs
Growth
Looks
My Conviction Is That Those Fights Need To Be Fought Right Now And Can Be Won. And If In Fact We Have Finite Political Capital, Energy, Resources, We Need To Win Those Fights.
Fighting
Winning
Political
People Need To Remember We Are The Governing Party Because We Have Diversity Of Opinion In Our Party. We're Not Pure. We Have Moderates And We Have More Progressives.
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People
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So I Came To My Christian Faith Later In Life, And It Was Because The Precepts Of Jesus Christ Spoke To Me In Terms Of The Kind Of Life That I Would Want To Lead. Jesus Christ Dying For My Sins Spoke To The Humility We All Have To Have As Human Beings, That We're Sinful And We're Flawed And We Make Mistakes, And That We Achieve Salvation Through The Grace Of God.
Christian
Jesus
Brother
The Countries Who Out-educate Us Today Will Out-compete Us Tomorrow.
Education
Country
Today
Listening To Evangelicals Bridges Major Political Fault Line.
Bridges
Political
Listening
One Of The Challenges Over The Last Decade Is America Has Done Experiments In Nation Building In Places Like Iraq And Afghanistan And We've Neglected, For Example, Developing Our Own Economy, Our Own Energy Sectors, Our Own Education System. And It's Very Hard For Us To Project Leadership Around The World When We're Not Doing What We Need To Do.
Iraq
America
Challenges
Our Patience Is Not Infinite. We're Not Willing To Let This Go On Forever.
Forever
Goes On
Infinite
It's A Generational Project Just To Get America To Live Up Fully To Its Ideals And To Have The Kind Of Society Where Everybody Has A Shot, And Every Kid Is Getting A Good Education, And People Are Getting Living Wages, And They Have Decent Retirement.
Retirement
Kids
America
Many Of Our Ideas Of Democracy, So Much Of Our Literature And Philosophy And Science Can Be Traced Back To Roots Right Here In Athens.
Philosophy
Ideas
Roots
Unless We Free Ourselves From A Dependence On These Fossil Fuels... We Are Condemning Future Generations To Global Catastrophe
Generations
Fuel
Fossils
It Is My Firm Belief That It Will Be In The Interests Of The United States, Especially Our Economic Interests, To Pursue Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
Immigration
United States
Reform
I Will Set Big Goals For This Country As President - Some So Large That The Technology To Reach Them Does Not Yet Exist.""i Will Recruit New Teachers And Make New Investments In Rural Schools, We'll Connect All Of America To 21st Century Technology And Telecommunications.
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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.
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There Is A Little Bit Of That Schoolyard Attitude Of, It's One Thing For A Guy Your Own Size To Mouth Off To You, But If There's A Little Guy, You Should Just Smack Him Around. And It's Probably Bad Advice In The Schoolyard. It's Certainly Not A Good Way To Run A Foreign Policy Because Even When You Are Dealing With A Non-peer, Militarily, War Is Complicated.
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Please Proceed, Governor.
Important
Election
Please
It Ought To Concern Every Person, Because It Is A Debasement Of Our Common Humanity. It Ought To Concern Every Community, Because It Tears At Our Social Fabric. It Ought To Concern Every Business, Because It Distorts Markets. It Ought To Concern Every Nation, Because It Endangers Public Health And Fuels Violence And Organized Crime. I’m Talking About The Injustice, The Outrage, Of Human Trafficking, Which Must Be Called By Its True Name - Modern Slavery.
Talking
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Names
I've Sought A Constructive Relationship With Russia, But What I Have Also Been Is Realistic In Recognizing That There Is Some Significant Differences In How Russia Views The World And How We View The World.
Russia
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Differences
Of All The Rocks Upon Which We Build Our Lives, We Are Reminded Today That Family Is The Most Important.
Family
Rocks
Role Models
Democracy Demands That The Religiously Motivated Translate Their Concerns In To Universal, Rather Than Religion-specific, Values... It Requires That Their Proposals Be Subject To Argument And Amenable To Reason. Now I May Be Opposed To Abortion For Religious Reasons, To Take One Example, But If I Seek To Pass A Law Banning The Practice, I Cannot Simply Point To The Teachings Of My Church Or Evoke God's Will. I Have To Explain Why Abortion Violates Some Principle That Is Accessible To People Of All Faiths, Including Those With No Faith At All.
Religious
Teaching
Law
We Consume About 25 Percent Of The World's Oil. We Only Have 2 Percent Of The Reserves.
Oil
World
Percent
The System Isn't Working When 12 Million People Live In Hiding, And Hundreds Of Thousands Cross Our Borders Illegally Each Year; When Companies Hire Undocumented Immigrants Instead Of Legal Citizens To Avoid Paying Overtime Or To Avoid A Union; When Communities Are Terrorized By Ice Immigration Raids -- When Nursing Mothers Are Torn From Their Babies, When Children Come Home From School To Find Their Parents Missing, When People Are Detained Without Access To Legal Counsel. When All That's Happening, The System Just Isn't Working.
Mother
Baby
Children
We Are In What We Hope Is An Intensive Diplomatic Phase Now. It Will Not Be Open-ended.
Phases
Diplomatic
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
We Are On Alert 24/7. And Everything That You Report Will Be Investigated. We Do It In Private. We Do It Covertly. This Could Be A Problem, It Could Simply Be Your Neighbor Having A Bad Day. But Better Be Safe Than Sorry.
Sorry
Bad Day
Safe
We Need Earmark Reform, And When I'm President, I Will Go Line By Line To Make Sure That We Are Not Spending Money Unwisely.
President
Reform
Needs
The Most Important Thing We Can Do Is To Make Sure That We've Got Very High Standards, We Expect A Lot Out Of All Of Our Young People, And We Make Sure That We Have The Best Teachers Possible In Every Classroom.
Teacher
People
Important
I Would Have To Investigate More Of Bill's Dancing Abilities, You Know, And Some Of This Other Stuff Before I Accurately Judge Whether He Was In Fact A Brother.
Brother
Dancing
Judging
We Right Now Give $15 Billion Every Year As Subsidies To Private Insurers Under The Medicare System. Doesn't Work Any Better Through The Private Insurers. They Just Skim Off $15 Billion.
Money
Years
Giving
I've Been Fighting With Acorn, Alongside Acorn, On Issues You Care About, My Entire Career.
Fighting
Careers
Issues
I Think What Grows The Economy Is When You Get That Tax Credit That We Put In Place For Your Kids Going To College. I Think That Grows The Economy. I Think What Grows The Economy Is When We Make Sure Small Businesses Are Getting A Tax Credit For Hiring Veterans Who Fought For Our Country. That Grows Our Economy.
Country
Kids
Thinking
I Was Watching A Documentary That During The Bay Of Pigs Crisis Jfk Had About Two Weeks Before Anybody Reported On It. Imagine That. I Think It's Fair To Say That If Something Like That Happens Under A Current President, They've Got To Figure Out In About An Hour What Their Response Is.
Thinking
Pigs
Two
I Don't Wanna Preempt An Announcement Next Week. And There's A Lot Of Technical Aspects To It. And If I - Say - That We're Doing One Thing. Then The Markets Might Interpret It Differently From What It Ends Up Being.
Next Week
Might
Ends
Will Not Collect A Ransom In Exchange For Not Crashing The American Economy.
Ransom
Economy
American Economy
I Reiterated Our Hope That Negotiations Over The United Kingdom's Exit From The E.u. Will Be Conducted In A Smooth And Orderly And Transparent Fashion And Preserve As Closely As Possible The Economic And Political And Security Relationships Between The U.k. And E.u.
Fashion
Political
Kingdoms
As I Got Older, Then My Particular Ambitions Started Cohering Around Creating A World In Which People Of Different Races Or Backgrounds Or Faiths Can Recognize Each Other's Humanity, Or Creating A World In Which Every Kid, Regardless Of Their Background, Can Strive And Achieve And Fulfill Their Potential.
Ambition
Kids
Race
If A Jayvee Team Puts On Lakers Uniforms, That Doesn't Make Them Kobe Bryant.
Team
Lakers
Uniforms
My Fellow Americans, We Are And Always Will Be A Nation Of Immigrants. We Were Strangers Once, Too.
Amnesty
Stranger
Undocumented Workers
One Of The Gratifying Things, I Think, About The End Of My Presidency Even Though Admittedly My Successor Ran Against A Lot Of What We Stood For, Is When You Look At The Individual Issues And The Progress That We've Made On A Lot Of Those Issues, We Got The Support Of A Pretty Decent Majority.
Thinking
Issues
Support
I Know Starting Careers In Troubled Times Is A Challenge, But It Is Also A Privilege. Because It's Moments Like These That Force Us To Try Harder, Dig Deeper And To Discover Gifts We Never Knew We Had. To Find The Greatness That Lies Within Each Of Us. So Don't Ever Shy Away From That Endeavor. Don't Stop Adding To Your Body Of Work. I Can Promise That You Will Be The Better For That Continued Effort As Will Be This Nation That We All Love.
Lying
Greatness
America
I've Got Certain Responsibilities That I Have To Carry Out In A Very Specific Institution And In A Specific Moment In Time.
Responsibility
Moments
Institutions
Leadership Isn't Just Legislation, That It's A Matter Of Persuading People And Giving Them Confidence, And Bringing Them Together And Setting A Tone.
People
Giving
Together
We Created A Whole Lot Of Millionaires To Boot. Businesses Did Just Fine. And You Know There Are Plenty Of Patriotic, Successful Americans All Across The Country -- I Meet Them Every Day -- Who'd Be Willing To Make This Contribution Again Because They Understand There Is Such A Thing As The Common Good. They Understand That We're In This Thing Together.
Country
Patriotic
Successful
At The Moment That We Persuade A Child, Any Child, To Cross That Threshold, That Magic Threshold Into A Library, We Change Their Lives Forever, For The Better
Children
Forever
Magic
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.
Moving
Negative
Hours
There's No Doubt That Probably At Least Once A Week, Maybe Once A Day, I Said, "ah, I Should Have Done That Better."
Should Have
Doubt
Done
What Makes Us Exceptional - What Makes Us American - Is Our Allegiance To An Idea Articulated In A Declaration Made More Than Two Centuries Ago: “we Hold These Truths To Be Self-evident, That All Men Are Created Equal; That They Are Endowed By Their Creator With Certain Unalienable Rights; That Among These Are Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness.”
Pursuit Of Happiness
Men
Rights
My Experience Is That Our Intelligence Officials Try To Do The Right Thing, But Even With Good Intentions, Sometimes They Make Mistakes. Sometimes They Can Be Overzealous.
Mistake
Trying
Good Intentions
I Just Want To Say That The Only Thing Less Popular Than Putting Money Into Banks Is Putting Money Into The Auto Industry.
Want
Auto Industry
Industry
Cuba Is Actually One Where I Am More Optimistic Because Of The Unique Nature Of Cuba - 90 Miles Off Our Shore With A Massive Ex-patriot Population, Now Cuban-american Population That Still Have Deep Links To The Island. There I Am More Confident That Over Time That The Winds Of Commerce And Telecommunication And Travel Start Shifting The Nature Of That Regime. But That's A Small Country Which Has Almost A Unique Relationship To Us.
Country
Optimistic
Unique
But To Truly Transform Our Economy, Protect Our Security, And Save Our Planet From The Ravages Of Climate Change, We Need To Ultimately Make Clean, Renewable Energy The Profitable Kind Of Energy. So I Ask This Congress To Send Me Legislation That Places A Market-based Cap On Carbon Pollution And Drives The Production Of More Renewable Energy In America.
Business
America
Climate
Moral Values Includes The Immorality Of 45 Million Uninsured Or The Immorality Of Working People Who Are Having Trouble Raising A Family Despite Working Full-time. That Has To Be Part Of The Moral Equation. And If We Are Able To Frame Things In That Fashion, Then I Think We Can Be Successful.
Fashion
Successful
Thinking
Part Of What Makes Me Most Optimistic Is If You Look At The Attitudes Of Young People. Across The Board, Young People Are Much More Comfortable With Respecting Differences. They Are Much More Comfortable With Diversity.
Attitude
Optimistic
Differences
I Believe, In The Words Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., That There Is Such A Thing As Being Too Late, And When It Comes To Climate Change, That Hour Is Almost Upon Us.
Kings
Believe
Climate
I'm Convinced We're Going To Rebuild Not Only The Auto Industry, But The Economy Better And Stronger Than Before. And At Its Heart Is Going To Be Three Powerful Words: Made In America. Made In America.
Powerful
Heart
Stronger
[j]ust Because You Have An Individual Right Does Not Mean That The State Or Local Government Can't Constrain The Exercise Of That Right.
Mean
Exercise
Government
Now, Anybody Who Thinks That We Can Move This Economy Forward With Just A Few Folks At The Top Doing Well, Hoping That It's Going To Trickle Down To Working People Who Are Running Faster And Faster Just To Keep Up, You'll Never See It.
Running
Moving
Thinking
America Remains The One Indispensable Nation. And The World Needs A Strong America.
Strong
America
Needs
If You Like Your Doctor Or Health Care Provider, You Can Keep Them. If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Can Keep That, Too.
Doctors
Care
Like You
I Don't Think That Any Economist Disputes That We're In The Worst Economic Crisis Since The Great Depression. The Good News Is That We're Getting A Consensus Around What Needs To Be Done.
Money
Thinking
Needs
I Think I Did In The Sense That There's A Whole Generation Coming Up Behind Us That Was Engaged, Inspired, Worked For Change During The Course Of My Presidency, Saw What Was Possible. And That Generation, It's Coming.
Thinking
Generations
Saws
If We're Not Vigilant Foreign Countries Can Have An Impact On The Political Debate In The United States In Ways That Might Not Have Been True 10, 20, 30 Years Ago In - In Part Because Of The Way News Is Transmitted And In Part Because So Many People Are Skeptical Of Mainstream News Organizations That - Everything's True And Everything's False.
Country
Years
Organization
We Will Send An Additional 475 Service Members To Iraq. As I Have Said Before, These American Forces Will Not Have A Combat Mission - We Will Not Get Dragged Into Another Ground War In Iraq. But They Are Needed To Support Iraqi And Kurdish Forces With Training, Intelligence And Equipment.
War
Safe Haven
Iraq
You Don't Know How It Would Have Turned Out If [kids] Would Grown Up In Chicago Instead, And A More Normal Environment.
Kids
Normal
Chicago
I Would Say To People Is, That Investigation, As It Has Already Been Stated, Is A Marathon And Not A Sprint. But It Is One Of Great Concern To The American People. And So We're Committed To Keeping People Informed.
People
Marathon
Investigation
I'm A Warrior For The Middle Class.
Warrior
Class
Middle
My Central Focus Is What Are We Doing To Protect The American People And The American Homeland? Afghanistan And Pakistan Are Critical Elements In That Process.
People
Focus
Pakistan
Immigration Is Part Of The Reason Why Our Economy Is Stronger And Better Positioned Than Most Of Our Other Competitors, Is Because We've Got A Younger Population That's More Dynamic When It Comes To Trade.
Stronger
Immigration
Population
I'm Not Sure We Have The Right Strategy In Afghanistan. Let Me Think This Over For A Few Months.
Thinking
Months
Strategy
There Is No Doubt That The Actions Of Isis Are Designed To Amplify Their Power And The Threat That They Pose. That Helps Them Recruit. That Adds In The Twisted Thoughts Of Some Young Person That They Might Want To Have Carry Out An Action That Somehow They're Part Of A Larger Movement.
Isis
Doubt
Add
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.
God
Names
Long
My Administration Is Committed To Creating An Unprecedented Level Of Openness In Government. We Will Work Together To Ensure The Public Trust And Establish A System Of Transparency, Public Participation, And Collaboration. Openness Will Strengthen Our Democracy And Promote Efficiency And Effectiveness In Government.
Government
Effectiveness
Creating
There Is A Word In South Africa - Ubuntu - That Describes His Greatest Gift: His Recognition That We Are All Bound Together In Ways That Can Be Invisible To The Eye; That There Is A Oneness To Humanity; That We Achieve Ourselves By Sharing Ourselves With Others, And Caring For Those Around Us.
Eye
Caring
Ubuntu
I Do Have An Obligation To Make Sure That I Am Following Some Of The Rules. I Can't Simply Ignore Laws That Are Out There.
Law
Obligation
Following
We've Got Some Fundamental Choices To Make About The Kind Of Country We Want To Be. Will We Accept An Economy Where Only A Few Of Us Do Spectacularly Well, Or Are We Going To Build An Economy Where Everyone Who Works Hard Has A Chance To Get Ahead?
Country
Hard Work
Choices
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
You Can’t Let Your Failures Define You. You Have To Let Your Failures Teach You.
Teach
Define You
Going Back To The Discussion We Were Having About Immigration Reform, Some Of The Most Challenging Discussions I've Had Are With Activists Who Essentially Would Argue That Any Immigrant From Central America, Let's Say, Who Gets Here To This Country Should Be Allowed To Stay Because Their Country Is Dangerous, Their Country Is Poor, And The Opportunities For That Mom And That Kid Are Much Greater Here, And Why Would You Send Them Back?
Mom
Country
Kids
And We Have Done More In The Two And A Half Years That I've Been In Here Than The Previous 43 Presidents To Uphold That Principle, Whether It's Ending 'don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Making Sure That Gay And Lesbian Partners Can Visit Each Other In Hospitals, Making Sure That Federal Benefits Can Be Provided To Same-sex Couples.
Sex
Couple
Gay
Several Americans, Unjustly Detained By Iran, Are Finally Coming Home. In Some Cases, These Americans Faced Years Of Continued Detention, And I've Met With Some Of Their Families. I've Seen Their Anguish, How They Ache For Their Sons And Husbands. I Gave These Families My Word. I Made A Vow That We Would Do Everything In Our Power To Win The Release Of Their Loved Ones, And We Have Been Tireless.
Husband
Home
Son
Transparency And The Rule Of Law Will Be The Touchstones Of This Presidency.
Law
Transparency
Touchstones
My Particular Worries On Any Given Day - How I'm Doing In The Polls Or What Somebody Is Saying About Me... For Good Or For Ill - Isn't Particularly Relevant. What Is Relevant Is: What Am I Building That Lasts?
Worry
Lasts
Building
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
The Profound Mistake Of Reverend Wright's Sermons Is Not That He Spoke About Racism In Our Society. It's That He Spoke As If Our Society Was Static; As If No Progress Has Been Made; As If This Country - A Country That Has Made It Possible For One Of His Own Members To Run For The Highest Office In The Land And Build A Coalition Of White And Black; Latino And Asian, Rich And Poor, Young And Old - Is Still Irrevocably Bound To A Tragic Past.
Inspiring
Running
Country
To Break Our Addiction To Oil Is One Of The Greatest Challenges That Our Generation Will Have To Master.
Our Generation
Oil
Addiction
But Having Made My Decision As Commander-in-chief Based On What I Am Convinced Is Our National Security Interests, I Will Seek Authorization For The Use Of Force From The American People's Representatives In Congress.
Military
Government
Long
My Goal Is Not To Resolve Conflicts And Tensions In The Region Through More War. My Goal Is To Make Sure That, You Know, We Are Able To Negotiate A Deal That We Can Verify.
War
Goal
Able
The Strongest Democracies Flourish From Frequent And Lively Debate, But They Endure When People Of Every Background And Belief Find A Way To Set Aside Smaller Differences In Service Of A Greater Purpose.
Differences
People
Democracy
Reverend Wright Has Been My Friend And Mentor For Over 20 Years.
Years
Mentor
Reverends
Beside The Two Wars He Inherited In Iraq And Afghanistan, And Promised To End, A Financial Crisis At Home Had Pushed The United States To The Brink Of Another Great Depression. When We Spoke With The New President In March Of 2009, The Economy Was Losing 800,000 Jobs A Month, The Government Was Throwing Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars At Failing Banks, And The Auto Industry Was On The Verge Of Collapse. Politically Pummeled From All Sides, Obama Did His Best To Keep A Sense Of Humor.
Jobs
War
Home
Mexico Is Going To Need The United States To Cooperate In Order To Rid Itself Of The Violence And Corruption That Results From The Drug Trade.
Order
Drug
United States
The Challenges Posed By Threats Like Terrorism, Proliferation, And Cyber Attacks Are Not Going Away Any Time Soon, And For Our Intelligence Community To Be Effective Over The Long Haul, We Must Maintain The Trust Of The American People And People Around The World.
Cyber Attacks
Nsa
Long
We Are Defined Not By Our Borders But By Our Bonds.
Borders
Defined
In America, There's A Failure To Appreciate Europe's Leading Role In The World. Instead Of Celebrating Your Dynamic Union And Seeking To Partner With You To Meet Common Challenges, There Have Been Times Where America Has Shown Arrogance And Been Dismissive, Even Derisive.
Europe
America
Appreciate
Do Something, Congress. Do Anything.
Congress
In The Past, There Have Been A Range Of Treaties That Divided Congress And Every Administration Was Able To Get Them Through.
Past
Able
Administration
In An Age Where There's So Much Active Misinformation And Its Packaged Very Well And It Looks The Same When You See It On A Facebook Page Or You Turn On Your Television. Where Some Overzealousness On The Part Of, You Know, A U.s. Official Is Equated With Constant And Severe Repression Elsewhere.
Age
Looks
Television
I Hope You Guys Are Up For A Fight. I Hope You Guys Are Game Because I Haven't Been Putting Up With 19 Months Of Airplanes And Hotel Food And Missing My Babies And My Wife - I Didn't Put Up For That Stuff Just To Come In Second.
Baby
Airplane
Fighting
We Continue To Stand United With Germany And Our Nato Allies In Our Ongoing Efforts To Build Peace And Stability In Afghanistan.
Effort
Allies
Germany
I Think We Need Missile Defense. But I Want To Make Sure It Works, That It's Cost Effective, That The Technologies Are Operable, That It's Our Best Possible Strategy, And That Hasn't Been Shown.
Technology
Thinking
Needs
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
99.9% Of Plumbers Make Less Than A Quarter Million Dollars A Year, And I'm Going To Give Joe A Break Whether He Wants It Or Not.
Years
Giving
Dollars
American Leadership Is Not Simply A Matter Of Going It Alone And Bearing All Of The Burden Ourselves.
Leadership
Matter
Burden
Now That Iran's Actions Have Been Verified, It Can Begin To Receive Relief From Certain Nuclear Sanctions And Gain Access To Its Own Money That Had Been Frozen.
Iran
Relief
Nuclear
In Missouri, It's A 50/50 State, So I'm Kind Of Used To Half The State Being Mad At Me.
Mad
Half
Kind
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.
Country
Organization
America
We Cannot Have A Society In Which Some Dictator Some Place Can Start Imposing Censorship Here In The United States. If Somebody Is Able To Intimidate Folks Out Of Releasing A Satirical Movie, Imagine What's Going To Happen When They See A Documentary They Don't Like Or News Reports They Don't Like."
United States
News
Able
We're Going To Make Sure, Regardless Of Disagreements We Have On Policy, That Our Military And Intelligence Cooperation To Keep The Israeli People Safe Continues And That Cooperation Also Helps The American People Stay Safe.
Military
People
Safe
It Is Time To Put In Place Tough, New Common-sense Rules Of The Road So That Our Financial Market Rewards Drive And Innovation, And Punishes Short-cuts And Abuse.
Cutting
Common Sense
Innovation
Physically, I Feel Probably As Good As I've Ever Felt. And I've Got As Much Energy As I Ever Did. But What You Feel After Eight Years - And I Think You'd Feel This No Matter What, But Anytime You Have A Big Transition, It Gets Magnified - Is Time Passes.
Thinking
Eight
Years
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.
Believe
Race
Identity
We're Still Fighting To Make Sure That Basic Anti-discrimination Laws Are Enforced, Not Just At The Federal Level, By The Way, But Throughout Government And Throughout The Private Sector? And Those Are Fights That We Can Win Because - And This Is Where I Do Believe America Has Changed - The Majority, Not By Any Means 100 Percent, But The Majority Of Americans Believe In The Idea Of Nondiscrimination.
Believe
Mean
Fighting
Sometimes When These Kinds Of Things Happen, It Can Seem A Little Bit Too Much To Bear. But What I Want The People Of Louisiana Know Is That You're Not Alone On This. Even After The Tv Cameras Leave, The Whole Country Is Going To Continue To Support You And Help You Until We Get Folks Back In Their Homes And Lives Are Rebuilt.
Country
Home
Support You
I Did Not Suggest That Iran Is A Democracy; Just The Opposite. I Talked About It Being A Repressive Theocracy. What I Think Is Indisputable Is That Even Within This Repressive Regime, The Political Leaders There - Including The Supreme Leader - Are Sensitive To The Concerns Of The Population Within Bounds.
Thinking
Iran
Opposites
To Keep Nigeria One, Is A Task That Must Be Done.
Tasks
Done
Nigeria
Lincoln, They Used To Talk About Him Almost As Bad As They Talk About Me. So Democracy Has Never Been For The Faint Of Heart.
Heart
Democracies Have
Democracy
We Are Going Through Historic Times, And My Vision Is A World, First Of All, In Which America Continues To Be That One Indispensable Nation. Because We're Taking Care Of Our Own People, Because Our Economy Is Strong And Our Middle Class Is Growing, And People Feel Like Hard Work Is Rewarded, And We Are Continuing To Expand Opportunity And Diversity And Tolerance And Respect.
Strong
Hard Work
Opportunity
When You Look At What [new Generation] Believe In, How They Value Diversity, How They Believe In Science, How They Care About The Environment, How They Believe In, You Know, Everybody Getting A Fair Shot, How They Believe In Not Discriminating Against People For Sexual Orientation And You Know, Their Belief That We Have To Work With Other Countries To Create A More Peaceful World And To Alleviate Poverty, That's The Majority An Entire Generation That's Coming Up Behind Us.
Country
Believe
Diversity
Ultimately Peer Pressure Can Lead People To Bully, But Peer Pressure Can Also Say Bullying Is Not Acceptable.
Bullying
People
Peer Pressure
Imagine If You Had Genuine, High-quality Early-childhood Education For Every Child, And Suddenly Every Black Child In America - But Also Every Poor White Child Or Latino [child], But Just Stick With Every Black Child In America - Is Getting A Really Good Education. And They're Graduating From High School At The Same Rates That Whites Are, And They Are Going To College At The Same Rates That Whites Are, And They Are Able To Afford College At The Same Rates Because The Government Has Universal Programs. So Now They're All Graduating.
Children
School
College
I Think That What Is Always True When You Run Against An Incumbent President Is, Is That You End Up Talking More About That President's Record Than Your Vision For The Future, And I Think That The Democrats Do Have To Present A Proactive Agenda And Vision For The Country And Not Simply Run Against Something If They're Going To Be Successful.
Running
Country
Successful
Even As We Do All That's Necessary To Ensure Israel's Security, Even As We Are Clear-eyed About The Difficult Challenges Before Us, And Even As We Pledge To Stand By Israel Through Whatever Tough Days Lie Ahead, I Hope We Do Not Give Up On That Vision Of Peace. For If History Teaches Us Anything, If The Story Of Israel Teaches Us Anything, It Is That With Courage And Resolve, Progress Is Possible. Peace Is Possible.
Giving Up
Lying
Israel
I Take The Constitution Very Seriously. The Biggest Problems That We're Facing Right Now Have To Do With [the President] Trying To Bring More And More Power Into The Executive Branch And Not Go Through Congress At All. And That's What I Intend To Reverse When I'm President Of The United States Of America.
America
Trying
President
The United Kingdom And The European Union Will Remain Indispensable Partners Of The United States Even As They Begin Negotiating Their Ongoing Relationship To Ensure Continued Stability, Security And Prosperity For Europe, Great Britain And Northern Ireland, And The World.
Europe
United States
Ongoing
Islamic Culture Has Given Us Majestic Arches And Soaring Spires; Timeless Poetry And Cherished Music; Elegant Calligraphy And Places Of Peaceful Contemplation.
Islamic
Peaceful
Culture
Sometimes People Just Feel As If We Want To Try Something To See If We Can Shake Things Up.
People
Trying
Want
... The Fact Is It Didn't Happen In The First Month, The First Six Weeks, In A Way That Was At All Acceptable. And Since I'm In Charge, Obviously, We Screwed It Up.
Care
Way
Months
Try To Be As Honest As Possible.
Trying
Honest
That Is The Story Of Our History - Whether It's The Pursuit Of Prosperity For Our People Or The Struggle For Equality For All Of Our Citizens, Our Commitment To Stand Up For Our Values Abroad, And Our Sacrifices To Make The World A Safer Place. Let Us Remember That We Can Do These Things Not Just Because Of Wealth Or Power, But Because Of Who We Are. One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All.
Struggle
Commitment
Sacrifice
Clearly, Iran Has Influence In Iraq. Iraq Has A Majority Shi'a Population, They Have Relationships To Iran. Some Are Natural.
Iran
Iraq
Majority
Under My Plan Of A Cap And Trade System, Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket… Because I’m Capping Greenhouse Gasses, Coal Power Plants, Natural Gas…you Name It…whatever The Plants Were, Whatever The Industry Was, They Would Have To Retro-fit Their Operations. That Will Cost Money…they Will Pass That Money On To The Consumers.
Names
Energy
Cost
There Was Never A Promise That Race Relations In America Would Be Entirely Resolved During My Presidency Or Anybody's Presidency. I Mean, This Has Been A Running Thread - And - And Fault Line In American Life And American Politics Since Its Founding.
Running
Mean
Race
The American People And The Israeli Peoples Share A Faith In The Future And Believe That Democracies Can Shape Their Own Destinies And That Opportunities Should Be Available To All. Throughout Its Own Extraordinary History, Israel Has Given Life To That Promise.
Believe
Opportunity
Destiny
I Am Designating A New Director Of Recovery For Auto Communities And Workers To Cut Through Red Tape And Ensure That The Full Resources Of Our Federal Government Are Leveraged To Assist The Workers, Communities, And Regions That Rely On Our Auto Industry.
Recovery
Cutting
Government
Despite All The Noise And Hullabaloo - Military Cooperation, Intelligence Cooperation, All Of That Has Continued. We Have Defended Them Consistently In Every Imaginable Way. But I Also Believe That Both For Our National Interests And Israel's National Interests That Allowing An Ongoing Conflict Between Israelis And Palestinians That Could Get Worse And Worse Over Time Is A Problem. And That Settlements Contribute.
Military
Believe
Israel
We Have The Power To Make The World We Seek, But Only If We Have The Courage To Make A New Beginning.
New Beginnings
World
Environment
This Is America, And Our Commitment To Religious Freedom Must Be Unshakeable. The Principle That People Of All Faiths Are Welcome In This Country, And Will Not Be Treated Differently By Their Government, Is Essential To Who We Are.
Country
Religious
Commitment
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.
Inspirational
Hope
Country
A Child's Course In Life Should Be Determined Not By The Zip Code She's Born In, But By The Strength Of Her Work Ethic And The Scope Of Her Dreams.
Dream
Children
Work Ethic
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
You Know, When I Made A Series Of Overtures To The Republicans, Going Over To Meet With Both Republican Caucuses, You Know, Putting Three Republicans In My Cabinet -- Something That Is Unprecedented -- Making Sure That They Were Invited Here To The White House To Talk About The Economic Recovery Plan, All Those Were Not Designed Simply To Get Some Short-term Votes. They Were Designed To Try To Build Up Some Trust Over Time. And I Think That, As I Continue To Make These Overtures, Over Time, Hopefully That Will Be Reciprocated.
Recovery
Thinking
White
The Russians Can't Change Us Or Significantly Weaken Us. They Are A Smaller Country. They Are A Weaker Country. Their Economy Doesn't Produce Anything That Anybody Wants To Buy, Except Oil And Gas And Arms. They Don't Innovate. But They Can Impact Us If We Lose Track Of Who We Are.
Country
Track
Economy
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
I Always Believe That Ultimately, If People Are Paying Attention, Then We Get Good Government And Good Leadership. And When We Get Lazy, As A Democracy And Civically Start Taking Shortcuts, Then It Results In Bad Government And Politics.
Believe
Government
People
[michelle Obama] Used To Say To Our Friends, "barack's Exactly The Kind Of Guy I Want To Be President. I Just Wish He Didn't Want To Do It When I Was Married To Him."
Guy
Wish
President
And We Remember The End Of Our Combat Mission And The Emergence Of A New Dawn - The Precision Of Our Efforts Against Al Qaeda In Iraq, The Professionalism Of The Training Of Iraqi Security Forces, And The Steady Drawdown Of Our Forces. In Handing Over Responsibility To The Iraqis, You Preserved The Gains Of The Last Four Years And Made This Day Possible.
War
Responsibility
Years
Every Country Has Violent, Hateful, Or Mentally Unstable People. What's Different Is Not Every Country Is Awash With Easily Accessible Guns.
Country
Gun
People
Keep In Mind That, When I Came In, We Had Had A Crisis That Was The Worst We've Seen Since The 1930s, And Working With People Like Chancellor Merkel, Working With The G-20 And Other Institutions Internationally, We Were Able To Stabilize The Financial System, Stabilize The Us Economy And Return To Growth.
People
Growth
Mind
The Notion That We Would Condition Iran Not Getting Nuclear Weapons In A Verifiable Deal On Iran Recognizing Israel Is Really Akin To Saying That We Won't Sign A Deal Unless The Nature Of The Iranian Regime Completely Transforms. And That Is, I Think, A Fundamental Misjudgment.
Nature
Thinking
Israel
That Sort Of Lack Of Awareness On The Part Of An Activist About The Constraints Of Our Political System And The Constraints On This Office, I Think, Sometimes Would Leave Me To Mutter Under My Breath. Very Rarely Did I Lose It Publicly. Yeah, Usually I'd Just Smile.
Thinking
Office
Political
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
We've Got To Be Able To Have A Conversation And Recognize We're All Americans; We All Want The Best For This Country. We May Have Some Disagreements In Terms Of How To Get There, But All Of Us Want To Make Sure That Our Economy Is Strong, That Jobs Are Growing. All Of Us Want To Make Sure That People Aren't Bankrupt When They Get Sick. All Of Us Want To Make Sure That Young People Can Afford An Education.
Country
Strong
Jobs
Evil Does Exist In The World. A Non-violent Movement Could Not Have Halted Hitler's Armies. Negotiations Cannot Convince Al Qaeda's Leaders To Lay Down Their Arms. To Say That Force May Sometimes Be Necessary Is Not A Call To Cynicism - It Is A Recognition Of History; The Imperfections Of Man And The Limits Of Reason.
Army
Men
Evil
Our First And Immutable Commitment Must Be To The Security Of Israel, Our Only True Ally In The Middle East And The Only Democracy.
Commitment
Israel
Democracy
I Think When You Spread The Wealth Around It's Good For Everybody.
Money
Powerful
Stupid
Like It Or Not, We Have To Have A Financial System That Is Healthy And Functioning.
Healthy
Financial
Financial System
Bernie Sanders Would Say, "you Still Have Millions Of African Americans Who Aren't Insured, And If We Had A Single-payer System, That Wouldn't Be The Case." And That's True.
African American
Cases
Stills
I Find It Amusing That Those Who Helped To Authorize And Engineer The Biggest Foreign Policy Disaster In Our Generation Are Now Criticizing Me For Making Sure That We Are On The Right Battlefield And Not The Wrong Battlefield In The War Against Terrorism.
War
Our Generation
Generations
No Country On Earth Would Tolerate Missiles Raining Down On Its Citizens From Outside Its Borders.
Country
Rain
Borders
We Are The Party Of Roosevelt. We Are The Party Of Kennedy. So Don't Tell Me That Democrats Won't Defend This Country. Don't Tell Me That Democrats Won't Keep Us Safe.
Country
Party
Safe
I Don't Believe People Should To Be Able To Own Guns.
Believe
Gun
People
If There's One Thing I Would Like To See, It'd Be For Us To Be Able To Price The Cost Of Carbon Emissions.
Carbon Emissions
Climate
Cost
Today, We Are Closer To Fulfilling America's Promise Of Economic And Social Justice Because We Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants Like Dr. King, Yet Our Future Progress Will Depend On How We Prepare Our Next Generation Of Leaders. We Must Fortify Their Ladders Of Opportunity By Correcting Social Injustice, Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty In Struggling Communities, And Reinvesting In Our Schools. Education Can Unlock A Child's Potential And Remains Our Strongest Weapon Against Injustice And Inequality.
Kings
Children
Struggle
If We're Going To Prevent People From Being Susceptible To The False Promises Of Extremism, Then The International Community Has To Offer Something Better And The United States Intends To Do Its Part.
People
Community
Promise
[about His Marijuana Use] I Did. It's Not Something That I'm Proud Of. It Was A Mistake As A Young Man, But You Know? I Mean Not Going To -- I Never Understood That Line. The Point Was To Inhale. That Was The Point.
Mistake
Mean
Marijuana
Our Pride Is Based On A Very Simple Premise, Summed Up In A Declaration Made Over Two Hundred Years Ago.
Pride
Simple
Years
I Marched With You In The Streets Of Chicago To Meet Our Immigration Challenge. I Fought With You In The Senate For Comprehensive Immigration Reform. And I Will Make It A Top Priority In My First Year As President.
Years
Priorities
Challenges
The Problem With All These Tired Excuses For Inaction Is That It Suggests A Fundamental Lack Of Faith In American Business And American Ingenuity.
Tired
Fundamentals
Global Warming
American Politics Is Always Somewhat Fluid. In This Age Of Social Media, It Means That Voters Can Swing Back And Forth.
Mean
Media
Swings
I Think [obamacare] Will Survive. Or It May Be Called Something Else. And As I Said I Don't Don't Mind.
Thinking
Obamacare
Mind
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.


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