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@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

News Conference By President Obama at Palaiz de la Musique et Des Congres in Strasbourg, France https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/news-conference-president-obama-4042009 (4 April 2009) 2009

“We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2015, State of the Union Address (January 2015)

“If you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor, too.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

President's weekly address (6 June 2009) https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/WEEKLY-ADDRESS-President-Obama-Outlines-Goals-for-Health-Care-Reform/ 2009

“As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Source: 2015, Address to the Nation by the President on San Bernardino (December 2015)

“When people say "Black Lives Matter," that doesn't mean blue lives don't matter; it just means all lives matter, but right now the big concern is the fact that the data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Statement by the President https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/07/statement-president (7 July 2016) 2016

“It is easy to get to a higher number when you are not asking anything difficult from yourself.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

In response to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who, on behalf of the Republican party, wanted steeper cuts, while opposing tax rises (also termed as revenue enhancements) in a meeting about the U.S. debt ceiling on July 13, 2011. According to an unidentified source[citation needed], as reported by blogger Sam Stien, "Obama Warns Cantor 'Don't Call My Bluff' As Debt Talks Stall," http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/obama-debt-ceiling-meeting_n_897834.html The Huffington Post, 14 July 2011 2011, Remarks on the economy (July 2011)

“They call it Armageddon, the end of freedom as we know it. After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth. Turned out it was a nice day.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

At a speech http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/news/dpgonc-obama-dares-republicans-to-run-on-repealing-health-care-fc-20100325_6751762 at the University of Iowa after signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (25 March 2010) 2010

“And so this visit, this hallowed ground, reminds us that we must never, ever take our progress for granted. We must commit perennially to peace, which binds us across oceans.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Remarks at Flanders Field Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium on March 26, 2014. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-plays-us-europe-bond-amid-russia-tension-113524803--politics.html 2014

“Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. He suggests America is weak. He must not hear the billions of men and women and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom and dignity and human rights. He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, tells our NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection.
Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. We bear our burdens. That’s one of the reasons why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2016, DNC Address (July 2016)

“We may do different jobs and wear different uniforms, and hold different views than the person beside us. But as Americans, we all share the same proud title — we are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter of our American story.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2013, Fifth State of the Union Address (February 2013)

“Today, 60 years after they rose up against oppression, we remember the East German heroes of June 17th. When the wall finally came down, it was their dreams that were fulfilled. Their strength and their passion, their enduring example remind us that for all the power of militaries, for all the authority of governments, it is citizens who choose whether to be defined by a wall, or whether to tear it down.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2013, Brandenburg Gate Speech (June 2013)

“It is entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you’ve got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

As reported http://www.vox.com/a/barack-obama-interview-vox-conversation/obama-foreign-policy-transcript by Vox; "Obama outrages by calling 4 Jewish victims of Paris terror 'a bunch of folks' shot randomly", by Cheryl K. Chumley, The Washington Times (10 February 2015) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/10/obama-outrages-by-calling-4-jewish-victims-of-pari/ 2015

“And we’ll work to strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage for low-income couples, and do more to encourage fatherhood — because what makes you a man isn’t the ability to conceive a child; it’s having the courage to raise one.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2013, Fifth State of the Union Address (February 2013)

“Yes, there will be setbacks and there will be frustrations, and there will be moments of doubt and moments of despair. The currents of history ebb and flow, but over time they flow toward freedom -- more people, in every corner of the Earth, standing up and reaching to claim those rights that are universal. And that’s why, in the end, our ideals are stronger. And that’s why, in the end, our ideals will win.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, Remarks to the People of Estonia (September 2014)

“There are countless reasons the American people have lost confidence in the President's Iraq policy, but chief among them has been the administration's insistence on making promises and assurances about progress and victory that do not appear to be grounded in the reality of the facts. We have been told we would be greeted as liberators. We have been promised the insurgency was in its last throes. We have been assured again and again that we are making progress and that the Iraqis would soon stand up so we could stand down and our brave sons and daughters could start coming home. We have been asked to wait, we have been asked to be patient, and we have been asked to give the President and the new Iraqi Government 6 more months, and then 6 more months after that, and then 6 more months after that.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Floor Statement on President's Decision to Increase Troops in Iraq (19 January 2007)
2007

“And in my own life, in this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting somebody else up. They don’t have to be defined in opposition to others, but rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness. […] But my faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and all children, and your daughters and your sons.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2016, United Nations Address (September 2016)