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You Might Be Locked In A World Not Of Your Own Making, Her Eyes Said, But You Still Have A Claim On How It Is Shaped. You Still Have Responsibilities.

-Barack Obama

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You Might Be Locked

Barack Obama

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You Might Be Locked In A World Not Of Your Own Making, Her Eyes Said, But You Still Have A Claim On How It Is Shaped. You Still Have Responsibilities.

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Pot Had Helped, And Booze, Maybe A Little Blow When You Could Afford It.

They Say I Need To Be Seasoned; They Say I Need To Be Stewed. They Say, 'we Need To Boil All The Hope Out Of Him -- Like Us -- And Then He'll Be Ready.'

Certainly I've Appreciated Angela Merkel As A Partner.

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.

Let's Say I'm On The Policy Wonk End Of The Spectrum. As Much As I Can Dive Into A Briefing Book And Really Work To Master Various Subjects That Come Before My Desk, I'm Still Not An Expert On A Huge Amount Of The Stuff That We Work On.

What We've Seen At Least Since 1979 Is Iran Making Constant, Calculated Decisions That Allow It To Preserve The Regime, To Expand Their Influence Where They Can, To Be Opportunistic, To Create What They View As Hedges Against Potential Israeli Attack In The Form Of Hezbollah And Other Proxies In The Region.

Rather Than Me Sort Of Characterize The Appropriateness Or Inappropriateness Of What Donald Trump Is Doing At The Moment, I Think What We Have To See Is How Will The President-elect Operate, And How Will His Team Operate, When They've Been Fully Briefed On All These Issues, They Have Their Hands On All The Levers Of Government, And They've Got To Start Making Decisions.

Often The Best Source Of Information About Waste, Fraud, And Abuse In Government Is An Existing Government Employee Committed To Public Integrity And Willing To Speak Out. Such Acts Of Courage And Patriotism, Which Can Sometimes Save Lives And Often Save Taxpayer Dollars, Should Be Encouraged Rather Than Stifled As They Have Been During The Bush Administration. We Need To Empower Federal Employees As Watchdogs Of Wrongdoing And Partners In Performance.

I Think That [donald Trump] Clearly Was Able To Tap Into A Lot Of Grievances. And He Has A Talent For Making A Connection With His Supporters That Overrode Some Of The Traditional Benchmarks Of How You'd Run A Campaign Or Conduct Yourself As A Presidential Candidate. What Will Be Interesting To See Is How That Plays Out During The Course Of His Presidency.

Historically - When You Look At How America Has Evolved, Typically We Make Progress On Race Relations In Fits And Starts. We Make Some Progress, And Then There's Maybe Some Slippage.

This Self-reflection, This Willingness To Examine Ourselves, To Make Corrections, To Do Better, That's Part Of What Makes Us Americans. It's Part Of What Sets Us Apart From Other Nations, The United States Is The Most Professional, Most Capable, Most Cutting-edge Intelligence Community In The World.

Their Foreign Policy Is So Disjointed, Confusing, And Chaotic That, Really, People Need To Reexamine Those Who Want To Be Involved In Every War.

... The Country Deserves Us To Be Willing To Compromise On Behalf Of The Greater Good.

The Alternative, No Limits On Iran's Nuclear Program, No Inspections, An Iran That's Closer To A Nuclear Weapon, The Risk Of Regional Nuclear Arms Race, And The Greater Risk Of War - All That Would Endanger Our [american] Security.

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

This Is The Defining Issue Of Our Time. This Is A Make-or-break Moment For The Middle Class And For All Those Who Are Fighting To Get Into The Middle Class.

There Will Be Setbacks And False Starts. There Are Many Who Won't Agree With Every Decision Or Policy I Make As President. And We Know The Government Can't Solve Every Problem. But I Will Always Be Honest With You About The Challenges We Face. I Will Listen To You, Especially When We Disagree. And, Above All, I Will Ask You To Join In The Work Of Remaking This Nation, The Only Way It's Been Done In America For 221 Years -- Block By Block, Brick By Brick, Calloused Hand By Calloused Hand.

Just Because Iran And Syria May Recognize Assad's Weaknesses Doesn't Necessarily Mean That Assad Recognizes His Weaknesses.

I've Been Very Good For Gun Manufacturers.

In This New, Hyper Competitive Age, None Of Us, None Of Us Can Afford To Be Complacent.

I Think It's Fair To Say That [donald Trump] And I Are Sort Of Opposites In Some Ways.

What You Saw Was The People Of New York Having A Debate, Talking Through These Issues. It Was Contentious. It Was Emotional. But Ultimately, They Made A Decision To Recognize Civil Marriage. And I Think That's Exactly How Things Should Work.

And That, I Suppose, Is What I'd Been Trying To Tell My Mother That Day: That Her Faith In Justice And Rationality Was Misplaced, That We Couldn't Overcome After All, That All The Education And Good Intentions In The World Couldn't Help You Plug Up The Holes In The Universe Or Give You The Power To Change Its Blind, Mindless Course.

I Have The Authority To Address The Threat From Isil, But I Believe We Are Strongest As A Nation When The President And Congress Work Together. So I Welcome Congressional Support For This Effort In Order To Show The World That Americans Are United In Confronting This Danger.

Across The Globe There Are Girls Who Will One Day Lead Nations, If Only We Afford Them The Chance To Choose Their Own Destinies.

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.

Everybody Acknowledges That The Current Path We're On Is Unsustainable, Not Just For The People Who Don't Have Health Insurance But For Those Who Do.

It Was The Labor Movement That Helped Secure So Much Of What We Take For Granted Today. The 40-hour Work Week, The Minimum Wage, Family Leave, Health Insurance, Social Security, Medicare, Retirement Plans. The Cornerstones Of The Middle-class Security All Bear The Union Label.

Without Regard To Whether Some Place Is Wealthy Or Poor, Everybody Should Have The Chance At Clean Air And Clean Water.

I Am Looking Forward To Getting Out Of The Bubble. I Am Glad That I'm Leaving This Place At A Relatively Young Age, At 55. So I Have The Opportunity For A Second Maybe Even A Third Act In A Way That I Think Would Be Tougher If I Were, You Know, The Age Of Some Presidents When They Left.

For Too Many Of Us, It's Become Safer To Retreat Into Our Own Bubbles, Whether In Our Neighborhoods Or On College Campuses, Or Places Of Worship Or Especially Our Social Media Feeds, Surrounded By People Who Look Like Us And Share The Same Political Outlook And Never Challenge Our Assumptions. And Increasingly, We Become So Secure In Our Bubbles That We Start Accepting Only Information, Whether It's True Or Not, That Fits Our Opinions, Instead Of Basing Our Opinions On The Evidence That Is Out There.

[this Upset] Means That Means Donald Trump Now Has To Transition To Governance.

I Know That Gaps Can Be Closed. And They Can Be Closed Substantially, More Than I Think We Believe.

Maybe At The Same Time As I'm More Confident Today, I'm Also More Humble.

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.

And Terrorists Who Seek To Harm Our Citizens Will Feel The Long Arm Of American Justice.

We Remember The Surge And We Remember The Awakening -- When The Abyss Of Chaos Turned Toward The Promise Of Reconciliation. By Battling And Building Block By Block In Baghdad, By Bringing Tribes Into The Fold And Partnering With The Iraqi Army And Police, You Helped Turn The Tide Toward Peace.

It's Harder To End A War Than Begin One. Indeed, Everything That American Troops Have Done In Iraq -- All The Fighting And All The Dying, The Bleeding And The Building, And The Training And The Partnering -- All Of It Has Led To This Moment Of Success. Now, Iraq Is Not A Perfect Place. It Has Many Challenges Ahead. But We're Leaving Behind A Sovereign, Stable And Self-reliant Iraq, With A Representative Government That Was Elected By Its People. We're Building A New Partnership Between Our Nations.

In The Course Of A Healthy Debate, We Prioritize Different Goals, And The Different Means Of Reaching Them. But Without Some Common Baseline Of Facts, Without A Willingness To Admit New Information And Concede That Your Opponent Might Be Making A Fair Point, And That Science And Reason Matter - Then We're Going To Keep Talking Past Each Other, And We'll Make Common Ground And Compromise Impossible.

[the] United States Is Proud To Stand With You As Your Strongest Ally And Greatest Friend. I See This Visit As An Opportunity To Reaffirm The Unbreakable Bond Between Our Nations, To Restate America's Unwavering Commitment To Israel's Security, And To Speak Directly To Israel And To Your Neighbors.

Ultimately, Only Diplomacy Can Bring About A Durable Solution To The Challenge Posed By Iran's Nuclear Program. As President And Commander In Chief, I Will Do What Is Necessary To Prevent Iran From Obtaining A Nuclear Weapon. However, I Have A Profound Responsibility To Try To Resolve Our Differences Peacefully, Rather Than Rush Towards Conflict.

They, And We, Are The Legacies Of An Unbroken Chain Of Proud Men And Women Who Served Their Country With Honor, Who Waged War So That We Might Know Peace, Who Braved Hardship So That We Might Know Opportunity, Who Paid The Ultimate Price So That We Might Know Freedom.

We Americans Are Not An Inherently More Violent People Than Folks In Other Countries. We're Not Inherently More Prone To Mental Health Problems. The Main Difference That Sets Our Nation Apart Is What Makes Us So Susceptible To So Many Mass Shootings Is That We Don't Do Enough, We Don't Take The Basic Commonsense Actions To Keep Guns Out Of The Hands Of Criminals And Dangerous People. What's Different In America Is It's Easy To Get Your Hands On A Gun.

The Number Of Americans Killed Since 9/11 By Terrorism, It's Less Than 100. If You Look At The Number That Have Been Killed By Gun Violence, It's In The Tens Of Thousands. And For Us Not To Be Able To Resolve That Issue Has Been Something That Is Distressing.

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.

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.

I Think What Will Happen With Donald Trump Is There Are Going To Be Certain Elements Of His Temperament That Will Not Serve Him Well Unless He Recognizes Them And Corrects Them.

Here`s A Guy Who Says He`s A Great Businessman. But It Seems Like A Lot Of Trump's Business Is Built Around Stiffing Small Businesses And Workers Out Of What He Owes Them, Work They`ve Done. He Thinks That`s Cute Or Smart Or Funny To Basically Not Pay Somebody Who`s Done Work For Him And Say Go Ahead And Sue Me Because I`ve Got More Money Than You And You Can`t Do Anything About It.

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.

Most People Who Meet My Wife Quickly Conclude That She Is Remarkable. They Are Right About This. She Is Smart, Funny And Thoroughly Charming... Often, After Hearing Her Speak At Some Function Or Working With Her On A Project, People Will Approach Me And Say Something To The Effect Of "you Know, I Think The World Of You, Barack, But Your Wife... Wow!"

I Intend To Protect A Free And Open Internet, Extend Its Reach To Every Classroom, And Every Community, And Help Folks Build The Fastest Networks, So That The Next Generation Of Digital Innovators And Entrepreneurs Have The Platform To Keep Reshaping Our World.

The Iranian People Are Getting Restive Because Of The Challenges That Sanctions Have Posed To Their Economy.

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.

While We Breathe, We Will Hope.

On Easter Or Christmas Day, My Mother Might Drag Me To Church, Just As She Dragged Me To The Buddhist Temple, The Chinese New Year Celebration, The Shinto Shrine, And Ancient Hawaiian Burial Sites.

When This Crisis Began, Crucial Decisions About What Would Happen To Some Of The World's Biggest Companies - Companies Employing Tens Of Thousands Of People And Holding Trillions Of Dollars In Assets - Took Place In Hurried Discussions In The Middle Of The Night. We Should Not Be Forced To Choose Between Allowing A Company To Fall Into A Rapid And Chaotic Dissolution Or Forcing Taxpayers To Foot The Bill.

It's A Moral Imperative, It's An Economic Imperative, And It Is A Security Imperative. For We've Seen How Spikes In Food Prices Can Plunge Millions Into Poverty, Which, In Turn, Can Spark Riots That Cost Lives, And Can Lead To Instability. And This Danger Will Only Grow If A Surging Global Population Isn't Matched By Surging Food Production. So Reducing Malnutrition And Hunger Around The World Advances International Peace And Security - And That Includes The National Security Of The United States.

There Are Few Things In Life That Are Harder To Find And More Important To Keep Than Love. Well, Love And A Birth Certificate.

I Bowled A 129... It Was Like The Special Olympics Or Something!

For The Sake Of Our Security, Our Economy And Our Planet, We Must Have The Courage And Commitment To Change.

When Our Sailors In The Persian Gulf Accidentally Strayed Into Iranian Waters, That Could Have Sparked A Major International Incident. Some Folks Here In Washington Rushed To Declare That It Was The Start Of Another Hostage Crisis. Instead, We Worked Directly With The Iranian Government And Secured The Release Of Our Sailors In Less Than 24 Hours.

The American People Want To Make Sure That The Rules Of The Game Are Fair. And What That Means Is That If You Look At Surveys Around Americans' Attitudes On Trade, The Majority Of The American People Still Support Trade. But They're Concerned About Whether Or Not Trade Is Fair, And Whether We Get The Same Access To Other Countries' Markets That They Have With Us. Is There Just A Race To The Bottom When It Comes To Wages, And So Forth.

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.

The Tea Party I Have Huge Disagreements With, Obviously. But I Give Them Credit For Having Activated Themselves. And They Made A Difference In Terms Of Moving The Republican Party, In Terms Of Moving The Country In A Particular Direction. It's A Direction I Disagreed With. But It Showed That, In Fact, You Get Involved, If Your Voice Is Heard It Has An Impact.

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.

The Last Thing That I Want To Do Is To Have The United States Be A Foil.

As Opposed To Getting Into Arguments About, Well, These Folks Have Been Treated Fairly So Now We're Going To Be Doing Things That, Very Easily In The Minds Of A Lot Americans Feel Like, "now I'm Being Treated Unfairly."

I Think It's Useful To Keep In Mind I've Been Now President For Over Seven Years And Gun Sales Don't Seem To Have Suffered During That Time.

There's Something About The American Spirit - Inherent In The American Spirit -- We Don't Hang On To The Past. We Always Move Forward.... We Are Going To Leave Something Better For Our Children - Not Just Here In The United States, But All Around The World.

The United States Was Founded On The Idea That All People Are Endowed With Inalienable Rights, And That Principle Has Allowed Us To Work To Perfect Our Union At Home While Standing As A Beacon Of Hope To The World. Today, That Principle Is Embodied In Agreements Americans Helped Forge - The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, The Geneva Conventions, And Treaties Against Torture And Genocide - And It Unites Us With People From Every Country And Culture.

Healthcare System Is Broken Without Lifetime Employment.

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.

The Pyramids Are One Of Those Things That Live Up To The Hype. They're Elemental In Ways That Are Hard To Describe.

As The World's Largest Economy And Second-largest Carbon Emitter, As A Country With Unsurpassed Ability To Drive Innovation And Scientific Breakthroughs, As The Country That People Around The World Continue To Look To In Times Of Crisis, We've Got A Vital Role To Play. We Can't Stand On The Sidelines. We've Got A Unique Responsibility.

Throughout American History, There Have Been Moments That Call On Us To Meet The Challenges Of An Uncertain World, And Pay Whatever Price Is Required To Secure Our Freedom.

America Is Number One In Wind Power.

Let's Remember That Our Leadership Is Defined Not Just By Our Defense Against Threats, But By The Enormous Opportunities To Do Good And Promote Understanding Around The Globe To Forge Greater Cooperation, To Expand New Markets, To Free People From Fear And Want. And No One Is Better Positioned To Take Advantage Of Those Opportunities Than America.

Trump Is Not Somebody Who`s Fit To Be President In Any Circumstances. I Would Feel Deeply Frustrated, Not Because Anything He Said About Me, But Because I Would Fear For The Future Of Our Country.

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.

While We May Not Live To See The Full Realization Of Our Ambition, We Will Have The Satisfaction Of Knowing That The World We Leave To Our Children Will Be Better Off For What We Did.

[our Troops In Iraq And Afganistan] Does Give Us The Ability To Make Sure That We Are Strengthening Those Folk Who Are Interested In Building Up Their Countries Rather Than Destroying Them, And Doing So In A Way That Is Sustainable And Doesn't Put A Constant Burden On The Amazing Men And Women That We've Got In Uniform.

Every Decision, Every Debate, No Matter How Important It Is, With The Same Question: 'what Does This Mean For The Next Election? What Does It Mean For Your Poll Numbers? Is This Good For The Democrats Or Good For The Republicans? Who Won The News Cycle?' That's Just How Washington Is. They Can't Help It. They're Obsessed With The Sport Of Politics.

We Know What Happens When Europeans Start Dividing Themselves Up And Emphasizing Their Differences And Seeing A Competition Between Various Countries In A Zero Sum Way.

I Will Begin To Remove Our Troops From Iraq Immediately.

I Don't Want To Make Promises, Not Knowing What The Situation's Going To Be Three Or Four Years Out.

If We Are Enforcing What Should Be The Rules Around Medicare And Making Sure The People Are Getting The Bang For The Buck, It's Not Going To Be Possible For Insurance Companies To Simply Pass On Those Costs To Medicare Recipients, Because Ultimately It's Uncle Sam That's Paying For Those Services Anyway.

We've Got To Make Sure That Our Economy Is Strong At Home So That We Can Project Military Power Overseas.

I Am Not Opposed To All Wars. I'm Opposed To Dumb Wars.

We've Got An Extraordinarily Complex Tax System That's Full Of Loopholes That Are Exploited By Special Interests. I'd Like To See Those Loopholes Closed.

I Stand Here Today As Hopeful As Ever That The United States Of America Will Endure, That It Will Prevail, That The Dream Of Our Founders Will Live On In Our Time.

It's Probably A Prerequisite For The Job, Or At Least You Have To Have Enough Craziness To Think That You Can Do The Job. I Think That [donald Trump] Has Not Spent A Lot Of Time Sweating The Details Of, You Know, All The Policies.

One Of The Great Things About Our Democracy Is It Expresses Itself In All Sorts Of Ways. And That Includes People Protesting. I've Been The Subject Of Protests During The Course Of My Eight Years And I Suspect That There's Not A President In Our History That At Some Point Hasn't Been Subject To These Protests.

As I Said In My State Of The Union Address Ensuring The Security Of The United States And The Safety Of Our People Demands A Smart, Patient And Disciplined Approach To The World.

I Don't Want To Exaggerate; Having As Many African American Men As We've Had In The Criminal-justice System, And The Amount Of Time It Takes For The Damage Done By That To Wash Through Our Society And Our Communities, The Disadvantages Born Out Of Kids Being Undiagnosed With Mental-health Problems Early, Or Not Getting The Kind Of Exposure To Reading And Math When They're 4 Or 5 Or 6 Years Old, That Carries A Cost.

The Good News Is I Think There Are A Lot Of Young People Certainly Who Were Involved In My Campaigns, And I Think Continue To Be Involved In Work Not Just Politically, But Through Nonprofits And Other Organizations, That Can Carry This Hard Work Of Democracy Forward.

I Was A Constitutional Law Professor, Which Means Unlike The Current President I Actually Respect The Constitution.

I Think It's About Time! Who Cares Whether He Is Looking For Votes Or Not! At Least Your Country Is Moving Forward With The Times!

Everybody Deserves Fair Treatment, Equal Treatment In The Eyes Of The Law And The State. And That Includes Gays, Lesbians, Transgender Persons. I Am Not A Fan Of Discrimination And Bullying Of Anybody On The Basis Of Race, On The Basis Of Religion, On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation Or Gender. This Is Actually Part And Parcel Of The Agenda That's Also Going To Be Front And Centre, And That Is How Are We Treating Women And Girls.

We [americans] Are A Nation Of Immigrants. We All Understand What This Country Has Become Because Talent From All Around The World Wants To Come Here, People Who Are Willing To Take Risks, People Who Want To Build On Their Dreams And Make Sure Their Kids Have An - Even Bigger Dreams Than They Have.

The Affordable Care Act Is Here To Stay.

Affordable Care Act

It's Very Important That We Have A President Who Is Mindful Of The Cruelty That Is Perpetrated On Animals.

We Will Not Hesitate To Speak Out When We See Actions That Contradict Those Values.

Generally Speaking, People Who Know Me Will Tell You That My Public Persona Is Not That Different From My Private Persona.

I Don`t Know If Donald Trump`s Ever Been To An Actual Polling Place, But, You Know, He Doesn`t Even Worry If What He Says Is True. This Is Just About Him Worried That He`s Losing.

We Have Known For Decades That Our Survival Depends On Finding New Sources Of Energy. Yet We Import More Oil Today Than Ever Before.

The War On Drugs Has Been An Utter Failure. We Need To Rethink And Decriminalize Our Marijuana Laws.

Love And Hope Can Conquer Hate.

Turns Out I'm Really Good At Killing People. Didn't Know That Was Gonna Be A Strong Suit Of Mine.

If We Choose Only To Expose Ourselves To Opinions And Viewpoints That Are In Line To Our Own, We Become More Polarized, More Set In Our Own Ways. It Will Only Reinforce And Deepen The Political Divides In Our Country. But If We Choose To Actively Seek Out Information That Challenges Our Assumptions And Beliefs, Perhaps We Can Begin To Understand Where The People Who Disagree With Us Are Coming From.

When The Economy's Shrinking, Providing Jobs, Spending On Things Like Infrastructure Can Actually Increase Revenue And Drive Down Debt. And Then, There's Going To Be A Time At Which Point Debt Has To Be Taken Care Of.

Our Vulnerability To Russia Or Any Other Foreign Power Is Directly Related To How Divided, Partisan, Dysfunctional Our Political Process Is. That's The Thing That Makes Us Vulnerable.

All Of Us Have A Responsibility To Work For The Day When The Mothers Of Israelis And Palestinians Can See Their Children Grow Up Without Fear; When The Holy Land Of The Three Great Faiths Is The Place Of Peace That God Intended It To Be; When Jerusalem Is A Secure And Lasting Home For Jews And Christians And Muslims, And A Place For All Of The Children Of Abraham To Mingle Peacefully Together As In The Story Of Isra - (applause) - As In The Story Of Isra, When Moses, Jesus, And Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Them, Joined In Prayer. (applause.)

I Believe In Term Limits For Presidents Because I Think That There Is No Doubt I'm A Better President Now Than I Was When I Start. I Would Argue That I Am The Best President I've Ever Been Over The Last Year Or Two. My Team Is More Effective Than It's Ever Been.but What Is Also True Is That Number One, This Is Grueling.

China Is Both An Adversary, But Also A Potential Partner In The International Community If It's Following The Rules. So My Attitude Coming Into Office Was That We Are Going To Insist That China Plays By The Same Rules As Everybody Else.

There’s No Black Male My Age, Who’s A Professional, Who Hasn’t Come Out Of A Restaurant And Is Waiting For Their Car And Somebody Didn’t Hand Them Their Car Keys.

I've Called On Congress To Repeal The So-called Defense Of Marriage Act To Help End Discrimination To Help End Discrimination Against Same-sex Couples In This Country. Now, I Want To Add We Have A Duty To Uphold Existing Law, But I Believe We Must Do So In A Way That Does Not Exacerbate Old Divides. And Fulfilling This Duty In Upholding The Law In No Way Lessens My Commitment To Reversing This Law. I've Made That Clear.

If We Want To Really Reduce Foreign Influence On Our Elections, Then We Better Think About How To Make Sure That Our Political Process, Our Political Dialogue Is Stronger Than It's Been.

If We Fall Into The Trap Of Painting All Muslims With A Broad Brush And Imply That We Are At War With An Entire Religion, Then We Are Doing The Terrorists' Work For Them.

In Texas, We Hold Very Dear To Intrusions Against Our Personal Liberty. We Fight Very Hard Against That.

There's A Lot Of People Talking About Elitism And All Of That.yes, I Went To Princeton And Harvard, But The Lens Through Which I See The World Is The Lens That I Grew Up With. I Am The Product Of A Working Class Upbringing.

We Need Fathers To Step Up, To Realize That Their Job Does Not End At Conception; That What Makes You A Man Is Not The Ability To Have A Child But The Courage To Raise One.

Nations Are More Successful When Their Women Are Successful.

As Part Of The Coalition Against Isil, We Are Putting That Terrorist Network Under Tremendous Pressure.

My View Is That Discrimination Against Anyone At The Ballot Box Is Wrong And Should Have The Full Enforcement Of The Federal Government.

There's No One Who I Believe Has Ever Captured The Soul Of America More Profoundly Than Abraham Lincoln Has.

What We Saw Was That The Ferguson Police Department In Conjunction With The Municipality Saw Traffic Stops, Arrests, Tickets As A Revenue Generator, As Opposed To Serving The Community, And That It Systematically Was Biased Against African-americans In That City Who Were Stopped, Harassed, Mistreated, Abused, Called Names, Fined.

I'm Asking You To Believe. Not Just In My Ability To Bring About Real Change In Washington . . . I'm Asking You To Believe In Yours." Keeping Faith With Those Who Serve Must Always Be A Core American Value And A Cornerstone Of American Patriotism. Because America's Commitment To Its Servicemen And Women Begins At Enlistment, And It Must Never End.

A Nation That Can't Control Its Energy Sources Can't Control Its Future.

If You Work Hard. And Are Responsible. You Should Be Rewarded.

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.

I Think That I'm A Better Speechwriter Than My Speechwriters. I Know More About Policies On Any Particular Issue Than My Policy Directors. And I'll Tell You Right Now That I'm Gonna Think I'm A Better Political Director Than My Political Director.

We Have To Focus On How Do We Ensure The Economy Works For Everybody, And Not Just A Few.

Black Children, White Children, Latino Children. America Is Becoming More Diverse, It's Becoming More Tolerant As A Consequence There's More Interactions Between Groups. There Are Going Be Tensions That Arise.

I Wanna Thank The German People For The Incredible Partnership That Our Countries Have Been Able To Establish All These Years.

Sometimes Hillary Clinton Doesn't Get The Credit She Deserves. But The Fact Is, Hillary Is Steady, And Hillary Is True.

Faced With The Potential Of Mass Atrocities And A Call For Help From The Libyan People, The United States And Our Friends And Allies Stopped Gadhafi's Forces In Their Tracks. A Coalition That Included The United States, Nato And Arab Nations Persevered To Protect Libyan Civilians. So This Is A Momentous Day In The History Of Libya. The Dark Shadow Of Tyranny Has Been Lifted, And With This Enormous Promise The Libyan People Now Have A Great Responsibility: To Build An Inclusive And Tolerant And Democratic Libya That Stands As The Ultimate Rebuke To Gadhafi's Dictatorship.

If You Want To Right-size Executive Power Relative To The Other Branches Of Government, The Best Way To Do That Is To Have A Healthy Congress In Which The Two Parties Are Debating, Disagreeing, But Also Occasionally Working Together To Pass Legislation.

Our Enemies Are Fully Aware That They Can Use Oil As A Weapon Against America. And If We Don't Take This Threat As Seriously As The Bombs They Build Or The Guns They Buy, We Will Be Fighting The War On Terror With One Hand Tied Behind Our Back.

I've Got Two Daughters. 9 Years Old And 6 Years Old. I Am Going To Teach Them First Of All About Values And Morals. But If They Make A Mistake, I Don't Want Them Punished With A Baby.

Who You Are, What You Are, Does Not Change After You Occupy The Oval Office. All It Does Is Magnify Who You Are. All It Does Is Shine A Spotlight On Who You Are.

My Family, Frankly, They Weren't Folks Who Went To Church Every Week. My Mother Was One Of The Most Spiritual People I Knew But She Didn't Raise Me In The Church, 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.

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.

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.

As An Elected Official Who Comes From The African-american Community, There Are Some Similarities. You Are Always Trying To Reconcile Your Own Personal Biography And Affiliations With The Demands Of The Broader Democracy. And You Need To Make Sure You Are Representing Everybody.

African American

The Most Powerful Political Moments For Me Come When I Feel Like My Actions Are Aligned With A Certain Truth. I Can Feel It. When I'm Talking To A Group And I'm Saying Something Truthful, I Can Feel A Power That Comes Out Of Those Statements That Is Different Than When I'm Just Being Glib Or Clever.

Moammar Gadhafi Had More American Blood On His Hands Than Any Individual Other Than Osama Bin Laden.

Osama Bin Laden

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.

The Democrats Are As Concerned About Raising Our Kids And Making Sure That The Values Of Empathy And Hard Work And Discipline And Self-respect Are Instilled In Our Children, And I've Got A Six-year-old Daughter And A Three-year-old Daughter, And I'm Not Afraid To Talk About How I Want To Provide Them With The Sort Of Cultural Framework That's Going To Allow Them To Be Successful, Happy People.

My Tax Plan Will Cut Taxes For 95 Percent Of Workers, Because We Need To Put Money Back Into The Pockets Of Struggling Middle-class Families And Close The Egregious Tax Loopholes That Have Exploded Over The Last Eight Years. My Plan Eliminates Capital Gains Taxes Entirely For The Small Businesses And Start-ups That Are The Backbone Of Our Economy, As Opposed To John Mccain's Plan, Which Would Tax These Businesses. John Mccain Is Running To Serve Out A Third Bush Term. But The Truth Is, When It Comes To Taxes, That's Not Being Fair To George Bush.

And That Means That No Matter How We Reform Health Care, We Will Keep This Promise To The American People: If You Like Your Doctor, You Will Be Able To Keep Your Doctor, Period. If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You'll Be Able To Keep Your Health Care Plan, Period. No One Will Take It Away, No Matter What.

Keeping Promises

I Believe When Women Succeed America Succeeds!

Even As Ramadan Holds Profound Meaning For The World’s 1.5 Billion Muslims, It Is Also A Reminder To People Of All Faiths Of Our Common Humanity And The Commitment To Justice, Equality, And Compassion Shared By All Great Faiths. In That Spirit, I Wish Muslims Across America And Around The World A Blessed Month, And I Look Forward To Again Hosting An Iftar Dinner Here At The White House. Ramadan Kareem.

Hope -- Hope In The Face Of Difficulty. Hope In The Face Of Uncertainty. The Audacity Of Hope! In The End, That Is God’s Greatest Gift To Us...a Belief In Things Not Seen. A Belief That There Are Better Days Ahead.

I'm Inspired By My Own Children, How Full They Make My Heart. They Make Me Want To Work To Make The World A Little Bit Better. And They Make Me Want To Be A Better Man.

Effective Immediately, We Will Only Pursue Phone Calls That Are Two Steps Removed From A Number Associated With A Terrorist Organization Instead Of Three.

My Presidency Is Not Over. I've Got Another Five Years Coming Up.

The Iranian Regime Supports Violent Extremists And Challenges Us Across The Region. It Pursues A Nuclear Capability That Could Spark A Dangerous Arms Race And Raise The Prospect Of A Transfer Of Nuclear Know-how To Terrorists. Its President Denies The Holocaust And Threatens To Wipe Israel Off The Map. The Danger From Iran Is Grave, It Is Real.

It Is Possible For Leaders Or Regimes To Be Cruel, Bigoted, Twisted In Their World Views And Still Make Rational Calculations With Respect To Their Limits And Their Self-preservation.

There Are Some Exceptions: Chicago, My Hometown, In Particular. But Overall In The Country This Is A Much Safer Place Than It Used To Be.

We Consume About 25 Percent Of The World's Oil. We Only Have 2 Percent Of The Reserves.

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.

When I Turn Over The Keys To The President-elect, America Will Be Much Stronger Than It Was When I Came Into Office.

Sometimes I Wonder How Much Of These Debates Have To Do With The Desire, The Legitimate Desire, For That History To Be Recognized. Because There Is A Psychic Power To The Recognition That Is Not Satisfied With A Universal Program, It's Not Satisfied By The Affordable Care Act, Or An Expansion Of Pell Grants, Or An Expansion Of The Earned-income Tax Credit.

We [usa] Don't Have Diplomatic Leverage To Eliminate Every Vestige Of A Peaceful Nuclear Program In Iran. What We Do Have The Leverage To Do Is To Make Sure That They Don't Have A Weapon.

We Are In What We Hope Is An Intensive Diplomatic Phase Now. It Will Not Be Open-ended.

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.

I Just Want To Go Through Central Park And Watch Folks Passing By. Spend The Whole Day Watching People. I Miss That.

[the Americans] Believe In The Idea That A Child Shouldn't Be Consigned To Poverty Just Because Of Circumstances Of Their Birth.

I Think That There's Gonna Be A Lot Of Work To Do In Order To Consolidate The Transformations That I Was Interested In.

I Mean, I Do Think At A Certain Point You've Made Enough Money.

To Young People: You Have To Stay Encouraged.

We Shouldn't Assume That Government Is Always Trying To Do The Wrong Thing.

I'm Named Barack Hussein Obama. I'm African-american.

African American

Because As Tough As Things Have Been, I Am Convinced You Are Tougher. I've Seen Your Passion And I've Seen Your Service... I've Seen A Generation Eager, Impatient Even, To Step Into The Rushing Waters Of History And Change Its Course.

If, Technologically, It Is Possible To Make An Impenetrable Device Or System Where The Encryption Is So Strong That There's No Key - There's No Door At All - Then How Do We Apprehend The Child Pornographer? How Do We Solve Or Disrupt A Terrorist Plot?

Each Wave Of Immigrants That Have Come In Have Been Able To Assimilate, Integrate And Then Rise Up And Become Part Of This Great American Dream.

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.

Year After Year, An Ideological And Economic Barrier Hardened Between Our Two Countries, Meanwhile, The Cuban Exile Community In The United States Made Enormous Contributions To Our Country, In Politics, In Business, Culture And Sports.

Ramadan Is A Celebration Of A Faith Known For Great Diversity And Racial Equality.

Obviously I'm Grayer, A Few More Wrinkles. One Of The Things I'm Proud About Is That I Think My Basic Character And Outlook Actually Have Not Changed Much. And People Who Are Closest To Me Will Tell You That The Guy Who Came Here Is The Same Guy Who's Leaving.

I Think That Part Of My Optimism Comes From The Belief That We As A People Could Actually, Regardless Of All The Disadvantage Of The Past, Regardless Of The Fact That A Lot Of Other Folks Got A Head Start In The Race, If We Were Able To Make The Race Fair Right Now.

I've Got A Grocery Bill At The End Of Every Month.our Toothpaste, Our Orange Juice, That All Gets Paid. But I - It Is True That I Don't Carry My Wallet That Often.

The Study Of Geography Is About More Than Just Memorizing Places On A Map. It's About Understanding The Complexity Of Our World, Appreciating The Diversity Of Cultures That Exists Across Continents. And In The End, It's About Using All That Knowledge To Help Bridge Divides And Bring People Together.

There Are Times Where I'd Say The Oval Office, You Use To Gather The Facts. The Decisions You Probably Make Late At Night, Or At Least I Do. But There Are Some Times Where You Think You've Made A Decision, But During That Walk, Where You're Announcing The Decision, You've Just Got To Make Sure That, You're Prepared To Live With It, Because As You Know George, A Lot Of These Decisions Are Not - The Outcomes Are Uncertain.

Whatever Decisions I Make Are Going To Be Based First On A Strategy To Keep Us Safe And Then We'll Figure Out How To Resource It.

This Notion That's Peddled By The Religious Right - That They Are Oppressed Is Not True. Sometimes It's A Cynical Ploy To Move Their Agenda Ahead. The Classic Example Being That Somehow Secularists Are Trying To Eliminate Christmas, Which Strikes Me As Some Kind Of Manufactured Controversy.

...i Believe Deeply That We Canot Solve The Challenges Of Your Time Unless We Solve Them Together - Unless We Perfect Our Union By Understanding That We May Have Differnt Stories, But We Hold Common Hopes; That We May Not Look The Same And We May Not Have Come From The Same Place, But We All Want To Move In The Same Direction - Towards A Better Future For Our Children And Our Grandchildren. This Belief Comes From My Unyielding Faith In The Decency And Generosity Of The American People.

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.

Please Proceed, Governor.

With Respect To The Pledge I Made That If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It. The Way I Put That Forward Unequivocally Ended Up Not Being Accurate.

I Don't Think [pot] Is More Dangerous Than Alcohol.

We Have Seen Violence And Terror Perpetrated By Those Who Profess To Stand Up For Faith, Their Faith. Professed To Stand Up For Islam, But In Fact Are Betraying It. Humanity Has Been Grappling With These Questions Throughout Human History. And Lest We Get On Our High Horse And Think This Is Unique To Some Other Place, Remember That During The Crusades And The Inquisition People Committed Terrible Deeds In The Name Of Christ.

The Emotions Between The Races Could Never Be Pure; Even Love Was Tarnished By The Desire To Find In The Other Some Element That Was Missing In Ourselves. Whether We Sought Out Our Demons Or Salvation, The Other Race Would Always Remain Just That: Menacing, Alien, And Apart.

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

We Need Scientists To Design New Fuels. We Need Farmers To Help Grow Them. We Need Engineers To Invent New Technologies. We Need Entrepreneurs To Sell Those Technologies. We Need Workers To Operate Assembly Lines That Hum With High-tech, Zero-carbon Components. We Need Builders To Hammer Into Place The Foundations For A Clean Energy Age. We Need Diplomats And Businessmen And Women, And Peace Corps Volunteers To Help Developing Nations Skip Past The Dirty Phase Of Development And Transition To Sustainable Sources Of Energy. In Other Words, We Need You.

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.

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

I Believe That We Have Better Ideas. But I Also Believe That Good Ideas Don't Matter If People Don't Hear Them.

And I Believe The Nation That Invented The Automobile Cannot Walk Away From It.

The Reason I Take Pride For That Is One Of The Things You Worry About When You're In The Bubble, And There's All This Pomp And Circumstance And Hail To The Chief Is, Do You Lose Touch With What You Thought Was Important And What Brought You Here? And I'm Proud That I Don't Think I Have Lost Touch.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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