Barack Obama Quotes About Wealth

• We are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.

  Barack Obama

  What Matters, People, Earth

  Speech at the 'Together We Thrive: Tucson and America' Memorial, delivered 12 January 2011, McKale Memorial Center, University of Arizona, Tucson

• Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.

  Barack Obama

  Money, Ambition, Focus

  Barack Obama's commencement speech at Northwestern University, www.northwestern.edu. June 19, 2006.

• Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

  Barack Obama

  Patriotic, Justice For All, Liberty

  Announces the Death of Osama Bin Laden, delivered 1 May 2011

• I believe in returning the nation's wealth to its rightful owners.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Wealth, Owners

• I promised to bring change to Washington. The underlying reason for the economic mess we're in has been building for years. It's a fundamental imbalance in which the top 1 percent now gets almost a quarter of all national income. We haven't seen income and wealth this concentrated since the late nineteen twenties, and we all know what happened then - the Great Depression. We'll never really get out of the gravitational pull of the Great Recession until we fix this basic problem.

  Barack Obama

  Great Depression, Problem, Wealth

• A nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

  Barack Obama

  Long, Favors, Wealth

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

• I actually believe in redistribution (of wealth)

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Wealth, Redistribution Of Wealth

• I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.

  Barack Obama

  Money, Powerful, Stupid

  "Questions Over Obama's Off-the-Cuff Remark". "America's Election HQ" with Martha Maccallum, www.foxnews.com. October 14, 2008.

• It’s not that I want to punish your success. I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success, too. My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.

  Barack Obama

  Attitude, Thinking, Want

  "Obama Fires a ‘Robin Hood’ Warning Shot". nypost.com. October 15, 2008.

• I don’t believe it is possible to transcend race in this country. Race is a factor in this society. The legacy of Jim Crow and slavery has not gone away. It is not an accident that African-Americans experience high crime rates, are poor, and have less wealth. It is a direct result of our racial history.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Believe, Race

  "On the Road with Barack Obama". www.essence.com. December, 16, 2009.

• We have proved that the true strength of our nation comes not from the scale of our wealth but from the power of our ideals - opportunity, democracy, liberty and hope.

  Barack Obama

  Strong, Opportunity, Democracy

• For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant - Moammar Gaddafi. He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world - including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.

  Barack Obama

  Home, Tyrants, People

  "The War on Libya and US Foreign Policy: Ronald Reagan, 1986 versus Barack Obama, 2011". Interview with Rick Rozoff, www.globalresearch.ca. March 28, 2011.

• This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many.

  Barack Obama

  Growth, Development, Benefits

  Address to the People of Berlin, delivered 24 July 2008, Victory Column

• 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

  Opportunity, America, Giving

  Barack Obama's Victory Speech at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, abcnews.go.com. November 4, 2008.

• If we win all those fights, and now let's say the income gap, and the wealth gap, and the education gap have for the most part been closed - let's say hypothetically, , first of all, America as a whole would be a lot richer.

  Barack Obama

  Fighting, Winning, America

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• To me the question right now is: How do I close that first three-quarters of the achievement gap, education gap, wealth gap? What gives me the best chance to do that? And I'm pretty darn sure that if America is a just society and treating people well right now, irrespective of past wrongs, that I'm going to close a big chunk of that gap. I've seen it.

  Barack Obama

  Past, America, Giving

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• I want every young man who sees me to know that I'm not that different from them. I wasn't born into wealth. I wasn't born into fame. I made a lot of mistakes - but I kept at it.

  Barack Obama

  Mistake, Men, Different

  "President Obama Reflects on Race and His Upbringing" by Arlette Saenz, abcnews.go.com. June 19, 2015.

• That is the story of our history - whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people or the struggle for equality for all of our citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

  Barack Obama

  Struggle, Commitment, Sacrifice

  Source: www.today.com

• The trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources, and hence facilitate some [wealth] redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody's got a shot.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Government, Levels

  "Buchanan: 'Barack Obama Is a Drug Dealer of Welfare'". "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren, www.foxnews.com. September 18, 2012.

• And what would help minority workers are the same things that would help white workers: the opportunity to earn a living wage, the education and training that lead to such jobs, labor laws and tax laws that restore some balance to the distribution of the nation's wealth.

  Barack Obama

  Jobs, Opportunity, Law

  Barack Obama (2006). “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”, p.171, Crown

• It's time to end the hypocrisy of those who accumulate wealth through the global economy, and then siphon funds to those who teach children to tear it down.

  Barack Obama

  Children, Hypocrisy, Tears

  Remarks As Prepared for Delivery by President Barack Obama, Address to the United Nations General Assembly, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. September 24, 2014.

• If you want to get at African American poverty, the income gap, wealth gap, achievement gap, that the most important thing is to make sure that the society as a whole does right by people who are poor, are working class, are aspiring to a better life for their kids.

  Barack Obama

  Kids, Class, People

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

  Barack Obama

  Struggle, Commitment, Sacrifice

  Announces the Death of Osama Bin Laden, delivered 1 May 2011

• This is where I think policies do need to be somewhat race-specific, is making sure that institutions are not discriminatory. So you've got something like the FHA [Federal Housing Administration], which was on its face a universal program that involved a huge mechanism for wealth accumulation and people entering into the middle class.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, Race, Class

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores. Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Strong, Powerful

  Democratic National Convention Presidential Nomination Acceptance, delivered 28 August 2008, INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

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