Barack Obama Quotes

“Americans still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.”

“Change doesn’t come from Washington; change comes to Washington.”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

“Focussing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realise your true potential.”

“Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us.”

“If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost.”

“If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you don’t run you’ve already lost.”

“If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.”

“In the end, this is what this election’s about – do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”

“It’s important to realise I was actually black before the election.”

“Lincoln – they used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me. So democracy has never been for the faint of heart…”

“Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.”

“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”

“Now, as a nation, we don't promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That's an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.”

“Now, when you first become president, one of the questions people ask you is, “what’s really going on in Area 51?” … oh, I think I just became the first president to ever publicly mention Area 51… how’s that?”

“Some things are beyond my control. For example, this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to Cuba – it’s unbelievable! I’ve got 99 problems, now Jay-Z is one.”

“The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.”

“The role of citizen in a democracy does not end with your vote.”

“The thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.”

“Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They’ve got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.”

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

“We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”

“What Washington needs is adult supervision.”

“You can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.”

“Why can't I just eat my waffle?”