“And having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder. You have made us think about how we are doing what we do and whether or not we’re able to deliver on what’s been requested by our constituents.”

—  Barack Obama

On his reationship with the press in Washington, D.C. and its role in a democracy
2017, Final News Conference as President (January 2017)
Context: We have traveled the world together. We did a few singles, a few doubles together. I’ve offered advice that I thought was pretty sound, like don’t do stupid stuff.(LAUGHTER) And even when you complained about my long answers, I just want you to know that the only reason they were long was because you asked six-part questions.(LAUGHTER)But I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I’ve enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that’s the point of this relationship. You’re not supposed to be (inaudible) fans, you’re supposed to be skeptics, you’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here, and you have done that. And you have done it for the most part in ways that I could appreciate for fairness, even if I didn’t always agree with your conclusions. And having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder. You have made us think about how we are doing what we do and whether or not we’re able to deliver on what’s been requested by our constituents.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 30, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "And having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder. You have …" by Barack Obama?
Barack Obama photo
Barack Obama 1158
44th President of the United States of America 1961

Related quotes

Roberto Clemente photo

“We are on the field doing what we love to do. They have to work in the mill or other places eight hours a day, and work much harder than us and they pay their way in.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

Explaining to reporters why it's the players who should pay the fans, and not vice versa; at post-game press conference on Roberto Clemente Day, as quoted in "Roberto Clemente's a Man of 2 Lives ... and 2 Loves" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zbYcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NWYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2327%2C2876682 by the Associated Press, in The Sarasota Herald-Tribune (July 26, 1970)
Other, <big><big>1970s</big></big>, <big>1970</big>

Swami Vivekananda photo
Oliver Burkeman photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Meister Eckhart photo
Biz Stone photo

“Many iconic features of Twitter have been created over the years by listening and watching what people who use Twitter do with it and then working to make it easier and better for them—we still do this today.”

Biz Stone (1974) American blogger; co-founder of Twitter

Twitter Blog: "The hashtag at 10 years young" https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/the-hashtag-at-ten-years-young.html (23 August 2017)

“How few of us have made our individual declaration of independence, and until we do that, we are not free.”

Edwin Manners (1855–1913) American lawyer

Diary entry, 1893-01-02

Barack Obama photo
Robert Oppenheimer photo
Vincent Van Gogh photo

Related topics