Barack Obama Quotes - Page 76

• But something stirred across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks were willing to march across a bridge. And so they [my parents] got together, Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home when I come to Selma, Alabama.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Home, Bridges

  Barack Obama's speech in Selma, Alabama, as reported in CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer", edition.cnn.com. March 4, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

• Teddy Roosevelt supported a progressive income tax. If I am sitting pretty and you've got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it and she can't, what's the big deal for me to say, 'I'm going to pay a little bit more'? That is neighborliness.

  Barack Obama

  Income, Sitting, Minimum Wage

  4 Copy quote

• I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fat cat bankers on Wall Street.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Wall, Cat

  "Obama Defends Afghanistan Timetable Plan". "60 minutes" with Steve Kroft, multimedia.cbs.com. December 9, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

• And I do not want, and I will not accept, a deal in which I am asked to do nothing, in fact, I'm able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don't need, while a parent out there who is struggling to figure out how to send their kid to college suddenly finds that they've got a couple thousand dollars less in grants or student loans.

  Barack Obama

  Couple, Struggle, Kids

  4 Copy quote

• And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Automobile, Walks

  First Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, delivered 24 February 2009

  4 Copy quote

• It [the Constitution] didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted, and the Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can't do to you, it says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn't shifted.

  Barack Obama

  Father, Government, Liberty

  4 Copy quote

• What drags down our entire economy is when there's an ever-widening chasm between the ultra-rich and everybody else.

  Barack Obama

  Rich, Economy, Drag

  Barack Obama's Speech at the Associated Press Luncheon, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. April 3, 2012.

  5 Copy quote

• I've made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.

  Barack Obama

  Iran, Years, Made

  "The Case Against Obama - In His Own Words" by Lorie Byrd, www.realclearpolitics.com. August 22, 2008.

  4 Copy quote

• There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black President.

  Barack Obama

  Dislike Me, Ideas, Black

  "Going the Distance". Interview with David Remnick, www.newyorker.com. January 27, 2014.

  4 Copy quote

• National legislation will prevent other states' flawed concealed-weapons laws from threatening the safety of Illinois residents.

  Barack Obama

  Illinois, Law, Safety

  4 Copy quote

• Think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Thinking, Iran

  "McCain criticizes Obama on foreign policies". www.nytimes.com. May 20, 2008.

  4 Copy quote

• Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as 'the president who lost Iran,'

  Barack Obama

  Iran, President, American History

  4 Copy quote

• The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. As commander in chief, the president does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the president would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Self, President

  Boston Globe, December 20, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

• The small irritations or indignities that we experience are nothing compared to what a previous generation experienced... It’s one thing for me to be mistaken for a waiter at a gala. It’s another thing for my son to be mistaken for a robber and to be handcuffed or, worse, if he happens to be walking down the street and is dressed the way teenagers dress.

  Barack Obama

  Teenager, Son, Irritation

  "We Can Still Make a Difference". Interview with Jess Cagle, Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, people.com. December 29, 2014.

  4 Copy quote

• I'm never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington.

  Barack Obama

  Controversy

  Barack Obama's Remarks in Joint Press Conference with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom in Brussels, Belgium, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. June 5, 2014.

  4 Copy quote

• We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.

  Barack Obama

  Christian, Religion, Jew

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

  6 Copy quote

• On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people - Muslims and Christians - have suffered in pursuit of a homeland.

  Barack Obama

  Christian, Hands, People

  Speech in Cairo, www.nytimes.com. June 4, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

• Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow.

  Barack Obama

  Paris, Secret, Unions

  Barack Obama, (2008). “Change We Can Believe In”, p.274, Canongate Books

  11 Copy quote

• We will not apologise for our way of life.

  Barack Obama

  Politics, Way

  Inauguration speech, news.bbc.co.uk. January 20, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

• We do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We see no military - we seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and now Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Home, Men

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

  4 Copy quote

• As soon as the recovery is well under way, we need to set up a long-term plan to reduce the structural deficit and make sure we are not leaving a mountain of debt for the next generation.

  Barack Obama

  Recovery, Long, Leaving

  "FACTBOX: Obama comments on economic issues". Reuters, www.reuters.com. November 26, 2008.

  4 Copy quote

• This kind of inequality - a level that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression - hurts us all. When middle-class families can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that businesses are selling...it drags down the entire economy from top to bottom. America was built on the idea of broad-based prosperity... That’s why a CEO like Henry Ford made it his mission to pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars he made. It’s also why a recent study showed that countries with less inequality tend to have stronger and steadier economic growth over the long run.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Country, Hurt

  Barack Obama's Remarks on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. December 6, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

• Inequality also distorts our democracy. It gives an outsized voice to the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaign contributions, and runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highest bidder. And it leaves everyone else rightly suspicious that the system in Washington is rigged against them - that our elected representatives aren't looking out for the interests of most Americans.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Voice, Giving

  "Obama Meets Occupy Wall Street" by Siddhartha Mahanta, www.motherjones.com. December 6, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

• This kind of gaping inequality gives lie to the promise that’s at the very heart of America: that this is a place where you can make it if you try. We tell people - we tell our kids - that in this country, even if you’re born with nothing, work hard and you can get into the middle class. We tell them that your children will have a chance to do even better than you do. That’s why immigrants from around the world historically have flocked to our shores.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Children, Lying

  Barack Obama's Remarks on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. December 6, 2011.

  6 Copy quote

• My expectation would be that if we can begin discussions soon, shortly after the Iranian elections, we should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year as to whether they are moving in the right direction.

  Barack Obama

  Moving, Should Have, Years

  Joint Press Meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered 18 May 2009

  4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton

Michelle Obama

Ann Dunham

William J. Clinton

George W. Bush

Maya Soetoro-Ng

Narendra Modi