Our destiny is not written for us, but by us.
To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.
A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.
I’m not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I’ve got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others.
The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.
If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void.
We as a country have to do some soul-searching.
We must begin by acknowledging a hard truth. We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations, acting individually or in concert, will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.
Love and hope can conquer hate.
I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died – an entire town destroyed.
The most frustrated and most stymied it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense, gun-safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings.
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.
I will sign a universal health-care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.
America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.
My administration doesn’t have any secrets, and from now on, neither will you.
That’s the good thing about being President – I can do whatever I want.
To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.