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Now, I've Lived Long Enough To Know That Race Relations Are Better Than They Were 10 Or 20 Or 30 Years Ago No Matter What Some Folks Say. You Can See It Not Just In Statistics, You See It In The Attitudes Of Young Americans Across The Political Spectrum. But We're Not Where We Need To Be. And All Of Us Have More Work To Do.

-Barack Obama

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Now, I've Lived Long

Barack Obama

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Now, I've Lived Long Enough To Know That Race Relations Are Better Than They Were 10 Or 20 Or 30 Years Ago No Matter What Some Folks Say. You Can See It Not Just In Statistics, You See It In The Attitudes Of Young Americans Across The Political Spectrum. But We're Not Where We Need To Be. And All Of Us Have More Work To Do.

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If Poverty Is A Disease That Infects The Entire Community In The Form Of Unemployment And Violence, Failing Schools And Broken Homes, Then We Can't Just Treat Those Symptoms In Isolation . We Have To Heal That Entire Community.

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The Government Can't Solve Every Problem, But An Enlightened Government Can Make Sure That People Can Work Hard For Their Dreams And Achieve Them.

Unless We Are Holding Ourselves Accountable Day In, Day Out, Not Just When There's A Crisis For Folks Who Have Power And Influence And Can Hire Lobbyists, But For The Nurse, The Teacher, The Police Officer, Who, Frankly, At The End Of Each Month, They've Got A Little Financial Crisis Going On. They're Having To Take Out Extra Debt Just To Make Their Mortgage Payments. We Haven't Been Paying Attention To Them. And If You Look At Our Tax Policies In America, It's A Classic Example.

Today We Are Engaged In A Deadly Global Struggle For Those Who Would Intimidate, Torture, And Murder People For Exercising The Most Basic Freedoms. If We Are To Win This Struggle And Spread Those Freedoms, We Must Keep Our Own Moral Compass Pointed In A True Direction.

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I Don't Have Time To Complain. I'm Going To Press On.

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I Kept Finding The Same Anguish, The Same Doubt; A Self-contempt That Neither Irony Nor Intellect Seemed Able To Deflect. Even Dubois’s Learning And Baldwin’s Love And Langston’s Humor Eventually Succumbed To Its Corrosive Force, Each Man Finally Forced To Doubt Art’s Redemptive Power, Each Man Finally Forced To Withdraw, One To Africa, One To Europe, One Deeper Into The Bowels Of Harlem, But All Of Them In The Same Weary Flight, All Of Them Exhausted, Bitter Men, The Devil At Their Heels.

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American History

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All I Care About Is Making Sure That I Leave Behind An America That Is Stronger, More Prosperous, More Stable, More Secure Than It Was When I Came Into Office And That's Going To Continue To Drive Me.

One Of The Things I Think The Next President Has To Do Is To Stop Fanning People's Fears. If We Spend All Our Time Feeding The American People Fear And Conflict And Division, Then They Become Fearful And Conflicted And Divided. And If We Feed Them Hope And We Feed Them Reason And Tolerance, Then They Will Become Tolerant And Reasonable And Hopeful.

I Think That When It Comes To Issues Of Trade, I Think It Is Important For Us To Be In Favor Of Trade, But I Also Think It Is Important To Make Sure That We Are Putting In Place The Labor Standards, The Environmental Standards, That Are Going To Provide Some Of A Fighting Chance For American Workers.

Israel Has Legitimate Concerns About Its Security Relative To Iran. I Mean, You Have A Large Country With A Significant Military That Has Proclaimed That Israel Shouldn't Exist, That Has Denied The Holocaust, That Has Financed Hezbollah, And As A Consequence, There Are Missiles That Are Pointed Towards Tel Aviv. There Are Very Good Reasons Why Israelis Are Nervous About Iran's Position In The World Generally.

The More We Are Using Clean Energy, Renewable Energy Sources, The Less Environmentally Problematic Facilities End Up Being A Problem For Everybody, But Particularly For Folks Who Have To Suffer The Consequences Of Some Of These Facilities.

One Of The Best Parts Of The Holiday Season Is Spending Time With The Special People In Your Life.

People In Your Life

I Have Great Respect For Both President Obama And The Office That He Holds

There's No Straight Line To Progress.

Peace Is Not Merely The Absence Of Visible Conflict. Only A Just Peace Based On The Inherent Rights And Dignity Of Every Individual Can Truly Be Lasting.

Those Opportunity Gaps Begin Early, Often At Birth. And They Compound Over Time, Becoming Harder And Harder To Bridge, Making Too Many Young Men And Women Feel Like, No Matter How Hard They Try, They May Never Achieve Their Dreams.

One Thing I Will Not Compromise Over Is Whether Or Not Congress Should Pay The Tab For A Bill They've Already Racked Up. If Congress Refuses To Give The United States The Ability To Pay Its Bills On Time, The Consequences For The Entire Global Economy Could Be Catastrophic.

The United States, Therefore, Works To Ensure That Any Actions We Take Are Consistent With International Laws And Norms - Including Those Reflected In The Law Of The Sea Convention. It's Worth Remembering That Our Presence In The Region Is Nothing New.

We Don't Quit. I Don't Quit. Let's Seize This Moment.

There’s Only One Thing We Can Be Sure Of, And That Is The Love That We Have -- For Our Children, For Our Families, For Each Other. The Warmth Of A Small Child’s Embrace -- That Is True. The Memories We Have Of Them, The Joy That They Bring, The Wonder We See Through Their Eyes, That Fierce And Boundless Love We Feel For Them, A Love That Takes Us Out Of Ourselves, And Binds Us To Something Larger -- We Know That’s What Matters. We Know We’re Always Doing Right When We’re Taking Care Of Them, When We’re Teaching Them Well, When We’re Showing Acts Of Kindness. We Don’t Go Wrong When We Do That.

Undocumented Workers Can't Report If They're Not Being Paid Overtime, Or If Their Health And Safety Laws Are Being Violated, Of If They're Not Getting The Minimum Wage. And So A Lot Of Times Companies Prefer To Hire Them In Order To Take Advantage Of Them. We've Got To Crack Down On Those Employers.

We Will Stand Against Violence And Intimidation. We Will Stand For The Rights And Dignity Of All Human Beings.

Against Violence

To Those Americans Whose Support I Have Yet To Earn, I May Not Have Won Your Vote Tonight, But I Hear Your Voices. I Need Your Help. And I Will Be Your President, Too.

The True Test Of The American Ideal Is Whether We're Able To Recognize Our Failings And Then Rise Together To Meet The Challenges Of Our Time. Whether We Allow Ourselves To Be Shaped By Events And History, Or Whether We Act To Shape Them. Whether Chance Of Birth Or Circumstance Decides Life's Big Winners And Losers, Or Whether We Build A Community Where, At The Very Least, Everyone Has A Chance To Work Hard, Get Ahead, And Reach Their Dreams.

Lobbyist Influence Comes From Access, Not Money.

As President Of The United States, I Don't Bluff.

I Think That There Is A Particular Mindset That Was On Display In The Run-up To The Iraq War That Continues To This Day. Some Of The Folks Who Were Involved In That Decision Either Don't Remember What They Said Or Are Entirely Unapologetic About The Results, But That Views The Middle East As A Place Where Force And Intimidation Will Deliver On The Security Interests That We Have, And That It Is Not Possible For Us To At Least Test The Possibility Of Diplomacy.

These Are Young People Who Made Mistakes That Aren't That Different Than The Mistakes I Made And The Mistakes That A Lot Of You Guys Made, We Have A Tendency Sometimes To Almost Take For Granted Or Think It's Normal That So Many Young People End Up In Our Criminal Justice System. It's Not Normal. ... What Is Normal Is Teenagers Doing Stupid Things.

One Of The Things I Think We Have To Do Is Make Sure That College Is Affordable For Every Young Person In America. And I Also Think That We're Going To Have To Rebuild Our Infrastructure, Which Is Falling Behind, Our Roads, Our Bridges, But Also Broadband Lines That Reach Into Rural Communities. So There Are Some Things That We've Got To Do Structurally To Make Sure That We Can Compete In This Global Economy. We Can't Shortchange Those Things. We've Got To Eliminate Programs That Don't Work, And We've Got To Make Sure That The Programs That We Do Have Are More Efficient And Cost Less.

This Kind Of Gaping Inequality Gives Lie To The Promise That’s At The Very Heart Of America: That This Is A Place Where You Can Make It If You Try. We Tell People - We Tell Our Kids - That In This Country, Even If You’re Born With Nothing, Work Hard And You Can Get Into The Middle Class. We Tell Them That Your Children Will Have A Chance To Do Even Better Than You Do. That’s Why Immigrants From Around The World Historically Have Flocked To Our Shores.

For Now, Whether You Are Young Or Whether You're Young At Heart, I Do Have One Final Ask Of You As Your President, The Same Thing I Asked When You Took A Chance On Me Eight Years Ago. I Am Asking You To Believe Not In My Ability To Bring About Change, But In Yours.

For The World Has Changed, And We Must Change With It

It Is That Promise That Has Always Set This Country Apart-that Through Hard Work And Sacrifice, Each Of Us Can Pursue Our Individual Dreams But Still Come Together As One American Family, To Ensure That The Next Generation Can Pursue Their Dreams As Well.

I Said To One Young Activist Who Herself Was The Daughter Of An Undocumented Worker, And So Could Speak From A Very Personal And Legitimate Perspective - I Remember Saying To Her: I Agree With You, From A Moral Perspective, That A Child From Honduras Is Worth The Same As My Daughter. God Is Not A Respecter Of Boundaries; He's Not Saying That American Kids Deserve A Better Life Than Honduran Kids. But I'm The President Of The United States, And The Nation-state By Definition Means That Boundaries Mean Something And Borders Mean Something.

America Can Do Whatever We Set Our Mind To. That Is The Story Of Our History, Whether It's The Pursuit Of Prosperity For Our People, Or The Struggle For Equality For All 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.

I Actually Think, When You're Young, Ambitions Are Somewhat Common - You Want To Prove Yourself. It May Grow Out Of Different Life Experiences. You May Want To Prove That You Are Worthy Of The Admiration Of The Demanding Father. You May Want To Prove That You Are Worthy Of The Love Of An Absent Father.

I've Just Concluded That For Me Personally It Is Important For Me To Go Ahead And Affirm That I Think Same-sex Couples Should Be Able To Get Married.

True Leadership Will Not Be Measured By The Ability To Muzzle Dissent, Or To Intimidate And Harass Political Opponents At Home. The People Of The World Want Change. They Will Not Long Tolerate Those Who Are On The Wrong Side Of History.

On The Spectrum Of Successful Politicians, I'm Not Introverted The Way Some Have Been.

When We Think About Immigration, We Have To Understand There Are Folks All Around The World Who Still See America As The Land Of Promise. And They Provide Us Energy, And They Provide Us Innovation. And They Start Companies Like Intel And Google, And We Want To Encourage That.

We Remain The Most Prosperous, Powerful Nation On Earth. Our Workers Are No Less Productive Than When This Crisis Began. Our Minds Are No Less Inventive, Our Goods And Services No Less Needed Than They Were Last Week Or Last Month Or Last Year

Ironically, The Single Thing That Has Strengthened Iran Over The Last Several Years Has Been The War In Iraq. Iraq Was Iran's Mortal Enemy. That Was Cleared Away. And What We've Seen Over The Last Several Years Is Iran's Influence Grow. They Have Funded Hezbollah, They Have Funded Hamas, They Have Gone From Zero Centrifuges To 4,000 Centrifuges To Develop A Nuclear Weapon.

As Iraqi Forces Continue The Liberation Of Mosul, I'm Pleased That Nato Will Be Meeting The Commitment We Made In Warsaw To Begin Training Additional Forces In Iraq.

And If We Walk Away Now, If We Simply Retreat Into Our Respective Corners, We Will Never Be Able To Come Together And Solve Challenges Like Health Care, Or Education, Or The Need To Find Good Jobs For Every American.

Like Joe Biden And So Many Other Americans, I've Lost People I Love Deeply To Cancer. I've Heard Often From Those Whose Loved Ones Are Suffering From Alzheimer's, Addiction, And Other Debilitating Diseases. Their Heartbreak Is Real, And So We Have A Responsibility To Respond With Real Solutions.

Robin Williams Was An Airman, A Doctor, A Genie, A Nanny ... And Everything In Between. But He Was One Of A Kind.

On This Day, We Gather Because We Have Chosen Hope Over Fear, Unity Of Purpose Over Conflict And Discord.

I’m Convinced That A World In Which Girls Are Educated Is A Safer, More Stable, More Prosperous Place.

The Map Isn't Always The Territory, And You Have To Kind Of Walk Through It To Get A Feel For It.

It's Also Wonderful To Be Back With My Great Friend And Ally, Chancellor [angela] Merkel. As I Reflect Back Over The Last Eight Years, I Could Not Ask For A Steadier Or More Reliable Partner On The World Stage, Often Through Some Very Challenging Times.

Our Focus On The Investigation Is Really Wide-ranging. And We Can't Limit It To Just One Point In Time.

The Arc Of The Moral Universe May Bend Towards Justice, But It Doesn't Bend On Its Own.

We Are Willing To Uphold Principles That Have Resulted In Unprecedented Prosperity And Security Throughout Europe And Around The World. With The Threat Of Climate Change Only Becoming More Urgent, Angela [merkel] And I Focused On The Need For American And E.u. Leadership To Advance Global Cooperation.

There Are People In Iran Who Have The Same Aspirations As People All Around The World For A Better Life.

The Issue Of Climate Change Is One That We Ignore At Our Own Peril. There May Still Be Disputes About Exactly How Much We're Contributing To The Warming Of The Earth's Atmosphere And How Much Is Naturally Occurring, But What We Can Be Scientifically Certain Of Is That Our Continued Use Of Fossil Fuels Is Pushing Us To A Point Of No Return. And Unless We Free Ourselves From A Dependence On These Fossil Fuels And Chart A New Course On Energy In This Country, We Are Condemning Future Generations To Global Catastrophe.

Some Technologies Don't Pan Out; Some Companies Fail. But I Will Not Walk Away From The Promise Of Clean Energy. ... I Will Not Cede The Wind Or Solar Or Battery Industry To China Or Germany Because We Refuse To Make The Same Commitment Here.

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