Barack Quotes & Sayings

I think that the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch. And so we're gonna be doing a complete review of FDA operations ... at bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter ... that's what Sasha eats for - for lunch - probably three times a week. — Barack Obama

Barack Obama is clearly a smart guy, talented. — Stephen Baldwin

After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. — Barack Obama

It's one of many ways that Barack shows me and the girls how special we are. And that's the thing that touches me about him. I don't care what's on his plate. I don't care what he's struggling with. When he steps off that elevator into our residence he is Barack and dad. And there's just those little things that you do that remind you, that you know, I still got ya. — Michel'le

My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation. — Barack Obama

Iran has agreed to deepen our coordination as we work to locate Robert Levinson, missing from Iran for more than eight years. Even as we rejoice in the safe return of others, we will never forget about Bob. Each and every day our hearts are with the Levinson family, and we will not rest until their family is whole again. — Barack Obama

Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not. — Barack Obama

I'm willing to work with anyone of either party who has a good idea and the commitment to see through. And we should all expect you to hold us accountable for our progress or our failure to deliver. — Barack Obama

This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility. — Barack Obama

We will outstretch the hand if you unclench your fist. — Barack Obama

We have a rare chance to pursue a new path, a different, better future that delivers progress for both our peoples and the wider world. That's the opportunity before the Iranian people. We need to take advantage of that. — Barack Obama

What we also have to recognize is that the deficit levels that I'm inheriting, over a trillion dollars, coming out of last year, that that is unsustainable. At a certain point, other countries stop buying our debt, at a certain point, we'd end up having to raise interest rates, and it would end up creating more economic chaos and potentially inflation. — Barack Obama

It's important to recognize that you can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. — Barack Obama

The rest of my time will be more productive if you give me my workout time- Barack Obama — Hanningtone Asava

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. — Barack Obama

What I think is fair to say is that, coming out of the Republican camp, there have been efforts to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith - something which I find deeply offensive, and that has been going on for a pretty long time. — Barack Obama

Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models. — Barack Obama

I think the people that Barack Obama has been associating with are anti-American, by and large. — Michele Bachmann

Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states. — Barack Obama

What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. — Barack Obama

More than a building that houses books and data, the library has always been a window to a larger world
a place where we've always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward ...
Libraries remind us that truth isn't about who yells the loudest, but who has the right information. Because even as we're the most religious of people, America's innovative genius has always been preserved because we also have a deep faith in facts.
And so the moment we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold into a library, we've changed their lives forever, and for the better. This is an enormous force for good. — Barack Obama

Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a AAA country. — Barack Obama

Many of you know that I got my name, Barack, from my father. What you may not know is Barack is actually Swahili for 'That One.' And I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president. — Barack Obama

Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it's not going to protect you from the coming storm. — Barack Obama

One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a very large Christian population - we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. — Barack Obama

Even through the unseen, I know that God watches,
From one King's dream, he was able to Barack us. — Common

Some people only speak of freedom of speech while they're out of power. Once they're in power, they're ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. — Barack Obama

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. — Barack Obama

That's when America soars, when we look out for one another and we take care of each other, when we root for one another's success, when we strive to do better and to be better than the generation that came before us and try to build something better for generations to come, that's why we do what we do. That's the whole point of public service. — Barack Obama

After a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. — Barack Obama

There is some good news for John McCain. According to the latest polls, which came out today, John McCain has started to open up a lead over Barack Obama. This is true. Yeah. The USA Today poll has McCain ahead by ten points. The 'CBS News' poll has the two tied. And the MSNBC poll says that Obama won the election last week. — Conan O'Brien

And, you know, I don't wanna have to worry about whether she's gonna get sick as a consequence to having - having her lunch. — Barack Obama

Is this money well spent? This is taxpayer money, it is going to be adding to the deficit short term and if we can't justify it, then we're not going to spend tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, just to make somebody happy, if it's not good for the economy. — Barack Obama

Now, some have said I blame too many problems on my predecessor, but let's not forget that's a practice that was initiated by George W. Bush. — Barack Obama

Supporting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman is not anti-gay: it is pro-traditional marriage. And if support for traditional marriage is bigotry, then Barack Obama was a bigot until just before the 2012 election. — Marco Rubio

Everybody knows full well my passion about defeating Barack Obama. Over my dead body would I vote for Barack Obama. — Rick Santorum

I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. — Barack Obama

Barack Obama has been the architect of policies that have hurt our country domestically as well as foreign. — Robert Pittenger

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. — Barack Obama

I mean, if you think about - if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It's the Post Office that's always having problems. — Barack Obama

Americans should tremble before suggesting that any fellow citizen lacks patriotism. — Barack Obama

You Can't Rest on Your Laurels. Your Own Body of Work Is Yet to Come. — Barack Obama

Politics didn't lead me to working people. Working people led me into politics. — Barack Obama

I don't have a philosophical objection, necessarily, to a travel ban if that is the thing that is going to keep the American people safe. — Barack Obama

The size of your paycheck shouldn't determine your child's future. — Barack Obama

You want to be commander in chief, you can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient. — Barack Obama

Nothing will deter us from building the future we want for our children. What greater rejection of those who would tear down our world than marshaling our best efforts to save it. — Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton has reportedly accepted Barack Obama's offer to become secretary of state. That's what they're saying in the New York Times. Yeah, according to Bill Clinton, this is the first time in 20 years that Hillary has said 'yes.' — Conan O'Brien

Conservative or liberal, we are all constitutionalists. — Barack Obama

A person's zip code shouldn't decide their destiny. — Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the president of the United States of America. More specifically, Barack Obama is the president of a congenitally racist country, erected upon the plunder of life, liberty, labor, and land. This plunder has not been exclusive to black people. - Ta — Ta-Nehisi Coates

A Disavowal of the pursuit of Middleclassness', the heading read. While it is permissible to chase 'middleincomeness' with all our might, the text stated, those blessed with the talent or good fortune to achieve success in the American mainstream must avoid the psychological entrapment of Black 'middleclassness' that hypnotizes the successful brother or sister into believing they are better than the rest and teaches them to think in terms of 'we' and 'they' instead of 'US'! — Barack Obama

But I also want to give them a pathway so that they can earn citizenship, earn a legal status, start learning English, pay a significant fine, go to the back of the line, but they can then stay here and they can have the ability to enforce a minimum wage that they're paid, make sure the worker safety laws are available, make sure that they can join a union. — Barack Obama

This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making. — Barack Obama

At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life
what you look like,where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home
none of that is an excuse ... where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No ones written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write you own destiny.You make your own future. — Barack Obama

[American Citizenship] captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations — Barack Obama

Friends persuaded me to run for the office, and I won. I had been warned, before taking office, that state politics lacks the glamour of its Washington counterpart; one labors largely in obscurity, mostly on topics that mean a great deal to some but that the average man or woman on the street can safely ignore (the regulation of mobile homes, say, or the tax consequences of farm equipment depreciation). Nonetheless, I found the work — Barack Obama

Black churches minister to social needs out of necessity. — Barack Obama

It's not a question we ask ourselves enough, I think; as a country, we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit. We wouldn't tolerate schools that don't teach, that are chronically underfunded and understaffed and underinspired, if we thought that the children in them were like our children. I believe a stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current politics in favor of those who are struggling. If we fail to help, we diminish ourselves. — Barack Obama

It is harder to end a war, than begin one. — Barack Obama

We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before. — Barack Obama

Listen to understand rather than listen to respond. — Barack Obama

Across the globe there are girls who will one day lead nations, if only we afford them the chance to choose their own destinies. — Barack Obama

We will not hesitate to speak out when we see actions that contradict those values. — Barack Obama

The fear among economists across the political spectrum was that we were rapidly plummeting toward a second Great Depression. So in the weeks and months that followed, we undertook a series of difficult steps to prevent that outcome. And we were forced to take those steps, largely without the help of an opposition party, which, unfortunately, after having presided over the decision-making that had led to the crisis, decided to hand it over to others to solve. — Barack Obama

All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago. — Barack Obama

I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans. — Barack Obama

If we neglect or abandon those who are suffering in poverty ... not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities for markets and economic growth, but ultimately that despair may turn to violence that turns on us. — Barack Obama

No one is pro-abortion. — Barack Obama

Should we have border security there? Yes. But the idea of the United States erecting a wall for the world to see makes a lie of everything we say about ourselves. It's a little bit like why the President [Barack Obama] and I feel so strongly about closing Guantanamo. It is inconsistent with who we are. — Joe Biden

To the furniture worker's child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president
that's the future we hope for. That's the vision we share. That's where we need to go
forward — Barack Obama

We have to all shoulder the responsibility for keeping the planet habitable, or we're going to suffer the consequences - together. — Barack Obama

In time, the media was fawning over Henry Stein like Barack Obama in 2008; he represented something different. Governor Stein began holding FP rallies across the country, attracting tens of thousands of supporters, waving signs and willing to plaster their entire neighborhoods with as much propaganda as they could get their hands on. After winning two terms as governor in Florida, it became inevitable that he should be a candidate for President of the United States in 2036. Henry — James Rosone

I've grown to love Barack Obama. Hillary is no Bernie Sanders. But she's a politician, and she understands Congress. And I think with that kind of twisted beauty, she could lead our country. — Eileen Myles

We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam. — Barack Obama

We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer - our homeland more secure, our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation. — Barack Obama

We've taken bold action at home by making historic investments in renewable energy, by putting our people to work increasing efficiency in our homes and buildings, and by pursuing comprehensive legislation to transform to a clean energy economy. — Barack Obama

I have no more campaigns to run. I know because I won both of them. — Barack Obama

What makes me uncomfortable about [Barack] Obama is what makes me uncomfortable about any young politician who has not yet been bloodied inside the Beltway. — Henry Rollins

Sergeant first class Cory Remsburg never gives up and he does not quit. — Barack Obama

And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. — Barack Obama

Look what's happened to Barack Obama over the last two years or George Bush for eight. It's a blood sport. But at some point I may feel the need to run for office again. — Joe Scarborough

You've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care and booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay. That's not reflective of who we are. — Barack Obama

Let's face it, I like Stanford grads. I'd always hear about this campus, and everybody is riding bikes, and people hopping into fountains. — Barack Obama

Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable. Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith or, for that matter, my citizenship. — Barack Obama

Obama's got a health care logo that's right out of Adolf Hitler's playbook ... Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate. — Rush Limbaugh

To restore America's competitiveness, we must recruit a new generation of science and technology leaders by investing in diversity. — Barack Obama

Clearly, Iran has influence in Iraq. Iraq has a majority Shi'a population, they have relationships to Iran. Some are natural. — Barack Obama

They will tell you that the Americans who sleep in the streets and beg for food got there because they're all lazy or weak of spirit. That the inner-city children who are trapped in dilapidated schools can't learn and won't learn and so we should just give up on them entirely. That the innocent people being slaughtered and expelled from their homes half a world away are somebody else's problem to take care of. — Barack Obama

We have been told we cannot do this by a coarse of sentence: it will only grow louder and more dissident. we have been asked to pause for a reality check, we have been warned about offering this nation false hope, but in the unlikely story that is america there has never been anything false about hope.
nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change
the hopes of little girl who goes to a public school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of a little boy who learns on the streets of L.A. We will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as devided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation and together we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: YES WE CAN!
yes we can to justice and equality
yes we can to oppurtunity and prosperity — Barack Obama

For us to respond in that way to hateful speech ... we empower the worst of us .. to create chaos around the world. — Barack Obama

We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible. — Barack Obama

Eight years ago, you may remember Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination. We battled for a year and a half. Let me tell you, it was tough, because Hillary was tough. I was worn out. She was doing everything I was doing, but just like Ginger Rogers, it was backwards in heels. — Barack Obama

Those who oppose reform will also tell you that under our plan, you won't get to choose your doctor - that some bureaucrat will choose for you. That's also not true. — Barack Obama

Because of the Civil Rights movement, new doors of opportunity and education swung open for everybody ... Not just for blacks and whites, but also women and Latinos; and Asians and Native Americans; and gay Americans and Americans with a disability. They swung open for you, and they swung open for me. And that's why I'm standing here today-because of those efforts, because of that legacy. — Barack Obama

In 2008, Barack Obama did get Democrats hyperventilating, whipped up to a creamy froth, while John McCain creaked ahead like a cranky granddad whom Republicans let move to the front of the buffet line, deferring to seniority, as they had in 1996, when Bob Dole turtled to the top of the ticket. — James Wolcott

When I ran for the U.S. Senate the assumption was that anyone's name that was close to "Osama" doesn't stand a chance. So if somebody thought that tacking on "Hussein" in there would be a killer, then I think they underestimate the American people and the seriousness of the problems we face. — Barack Obama

I want the young people to pay attention because, see, back when I first met Barack, we started dating, he had everything going for him. All right, ladies, listen to this. This is what I want you to be looking for. Yes, he was handsome-still is. I think so. He was charming, talented, and oh-so smart, truly. But that is not why I married him. Now, see, I want the fellas to pay attention to this. You all listening? What truly made me fall in love with Barack Obama was his character. You hear me? It was his character. It was his decency, his honesty, his compassion and conviction. — Michelle Obama

He has attempted to muddy the waters, but I think anyone that watched the battle that we had - you know, there was a time for choosing, as [Ronald] Reagan put it, where there was a battle over amnesty. And some chose, like Sen.[Marco] Rubio, to stand with Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer and support a massive amnesty plan. — Ted Cruz

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. — Barack Obama