Barack Obama Quotes About Effort

• It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

  Barack Obama

  Daughter, Mother, Brother

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

• Let us each of us now embrace with solemn duty, and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

  Barack Obama

  Passion, Dedication, Common Purpose

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

• Don’t ever let anybody tell you that your efforts don’t matter or that your voice doesn’t count. Don’t ever believe that you can’t make a difference. You have.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Voice, Differences

• All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort -- a sustained effort -- to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.

  Barack Obama

  Children, Focus, Effort

  A New Beginning: Speech at Cairo University, delivered 4 June 2009, Cairo, Egypt

• The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I, therefore, intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, America, Effort

  "It's Worth Actually Reading Obama's 2006 Debt Ceiling Speech". www.slate.com. October 09, 2013.

• I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending. There will be no easy off ramps on this one.

  Barack Obama

  Cutting, Effort, Defense

  Barack Obama's Statement on the Supercommittee, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. November 21, 2011.

• From the day I took office, I've been told that addressing our larger challenges is too ambitious; such an effort would be too contentious. I've been told that our political system is too gridlocked, and that we should just put things on hold for a while. For those who make these claims, I have one simple question: How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?

  Barack Obama

  Simple, America, Long

  First Presidential State of the Union Address, delivered 27 January 2010, Washington, D.C.

• 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

  Inspiring, Native American, Gay

• Our efforts will only be effective if ordinary citizens in other countries have confidence that the United States respects their privacy too. And the leaders of our close friends and allies deserve to know that if I want to learn what they think about an issue, I will pick up the phone and call them, rather than turning to surveillance.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Thinking, Phones

  President Obama’s speech on NSA reforms, www.washingtonpost.com. January 17, 2014.

• For the Palestinians' efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.

  Barack Obama

  Israel, Rejection, Effort

  "George Mitchell and King Abdullah II". "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour, abcnews.go.com. May 22, 2011.

• Sometimes slow, steady effort is rewarded with justice that arrives like a thunderbolt.

  Barack Obama

  Justice, Effort, Sometimes

  Source: www.nbcnews.com

• With effort we can protect the foundation of our democracy, for which so many marched across this bridge, the right to vote.

  Barack Obama

  Bridges, Effort, Democracy

  "CNN Newsroom" with Fredricka Whitfield, www.cnn.com. March 7, 2015.

• I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.

  Barack Obama

  Sex, Fighting, Gay

  "Obama's past statements on same-sex marriage". www.foxnews.com. May 9, 2012.

• And we remember the end of our combat mission and the emergence of a new dawn - the precision of our efforts against al Qaeda in Iraq, the professionalism of the training of Iraqi security forces, and the steady drawdown of our forces. In handing over responsibility to the Iraqis, you preserved the gains of the last four years and made this day possible.

  Barack Obama

  War, Responsibility, Years

  Remarks by the President and First Lady on the End of the War in Iraq at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. December 14, 2011.

• Yes, this is hard. But there should be no question that the United States of America is stepping up to the plate. We recognize our role in creating this problem; we embrace our responsibility to combat it. We will do our part, and we will help developing nations do theirs. But we can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation - developed and developing alike. Nobody gets a pass.

  Barack Obama

  Responsibility, Creating, America

  "Obama urges climate action" by Elana Schor, www.politico.com. September 23, 2014.

• Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIL attacks. Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off its funding; improve our intelligence; strengthen our defenses; counter its warped ideology; and stem the flow of foreign fighters into - and out of - the Middle East. And in two weeks, I will chair a meeting of the UN Security Council to further mobilize the international community around this effort.

  Barack Obama

  Islamic, Cutting, Two

  President Obama's Speech on Combating ISIS and Terrorism, www.cnn.com. September 10, 2014.

• I will call not just on Israel, but on the Palestinians, on the Arab States, and the international community to join us in this effort, because the burden of making hard choices must not be Israel’s alone.

  Barack Obama

  Commitment, Israel, America

  Barack Obama's speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. May 22, 2011.

• 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

  Thinking, Long, Effort

  "Muslim Americans Weigh In On 2008 Campaign". Interview with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. October 28, 2008.

• If you look at countries like South Africa, where you had a black majority, there have been efforts to tax and help that black majority, but it hasn't come in the form of a formal reparations program.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Effort, Black

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• The bottom line is that it's hard to find a model in which you can practically administer and sustain political support for those kinds of efforts. And what makes America complicated as well is the degree to which this is not just a black/white society, and it is becoming less so every year.

  Barack Obama

  Years, White, America

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• When the United States stands up for human rights, by example at home and by effort abroad, we align ourselves with men and women around the world who struggle for the right to speak their minds, to choose their leaders, and to be treated with dignity and respect. We also strengthen our security and well being, because the abuse of human rights can feed many of the global dangers that we confront - from armed conflict and humanitarian crises, to corruption and the spread of ideologies that promote hatred and violence.

  Barack Obama

  Struggle, Home, Men

  "Beatings, Protests, Arrests Mark 60th Annual Human Rights Day". www.huffingtonpost.com. January 10, 2009.

• When it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will take no options off the table. ... That includes all elements of American power: a political effort aimed at isolating Iran, a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian program is monitored, an economic effort that imposes crippling sanctions and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Iran, Political

  "Debate: Attacking Iran, AIPAC, Israel-Palestine and Obama with Rashid Khalidi and Jonathan Tobin", www.democracynow.org. March 5, 2012.

• One very difficult decision was deciding to vote against the appropriations bill for the war. I had consistently said that I wanted to make sure our troops got the adequate and training in the war effort, despite the fact that I opposed the war at the point that the president decided to double down and send more troops. I had to vote against funding as a way of bringing it back to the table. That was a difficult decision for me.

  Barack Obama

  War, Effort, Decision

  Source: www.politico.com

• We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

  Barack Obama

  Religious, Effort, Religion

  Barack Obama's speech following attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, www.foxnews.com. September 12, 2012.

• I know starting careers in troubled times is a challenge, but it is also a privilege. Because it's moments like these that force us to try harder, dig deeper and to discover gifts we never knew we had. To find the greatness that lies within each of us. So don't ever shy away from that endeavor. Don't stop adding to your body of work. I can promise that you will be the better for that continued effort as will be this nation that we all love.

  Barack Obama

  Lying, Greatness, America

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