In America, with education and hard work, it really does not matter where you came from; it matters only where you are going.
Every life is capable of greatness.
You know, I’ve never believed, in anything, that you had to have role models who looked like you to do something. If I’d been waiting for a black, female, soviet specialist role model, I’d be still waiting.
There’s no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be in public service.
Education is of no value and talent is worthless – unless you have an unwavering aim. Never find yourself without a compass.
Your passion may be hard to spot, so keep an open mind and keep searching.
You have to have a strong sense of your values and a strong sense of who you are, because there are a lot of events and a lot of people who will pull you in this direction or that direction.
What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow, but not what you did yesterday.
When somebody underestimated me, it made me want to prove them wrong.
You will make a difference in the world, but not immediately. Your first obligation is to find something you like doing, because if you like doing it, you’ll do it well.
We’re in a new world. We’re in a world in which the possibility of terrorism, married up with technology, could make us very, very sorry that we didn’t act.
When I went off to college, I was expecting to be a concert musician. In music school I heard all of these kids who were just unbelievable. And I understand that you can be very, very good, but there’s something that separates very, very good from great, and I knew that I wasn’t great.
Every life is worthy and every life is capable of greatness. We have an obligation to make sure that opportunity for greatness is there.
Today’s headlines and history’s judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
Every good leader is part manager and every good manager is part leader.
You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace and on the other dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable.
My parents elected me president of the family when I was 4. We actually had an election every year and I always won. I’m an only child, and I could count on my mother’s vote.
I’m saying there is no way that I will do this, because it’s really not me. I know my strengths, and governor Romney needs to find someone who wants to run with him. There are many people who will do it very, very well, and I’ll support the ticket.
The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly Saddam can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
Our policies toward Iraq simply are to protect the region and to protect Iraq’s people and neighbors.