Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Obama’s presidency has generally been regarded favorably, and evaluations of his presidency among historians, political scientists, and the general public place him among the upper tier of American presidents. Obama left office in January 2017 but continues to reside in Washington, D.C.
We have compiled some of the greatest inspirational quotes of Barack Obama.
Barack Obama Inspirational Quotes
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama
“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don’t contract them.”
– Barack Obama
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”
– Barack Obama
“We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don’t want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.”
– Barack Obama
“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.”
– Barack Obama
“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.”
– Barack Obama
Barack Obama Greatest Quotes
“Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did. I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. We have. We’ve blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over. A new tower rises above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead.”
– Barack Obama
“It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.”
– Barack Obama
“There is probably a perverse pride in my administration…that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.”
– Barack Obama
“I began feeling the way I imagine an actor or athlete must feel when, after years of commitment to a particular dream…he realizes that he’s gone just about as far as talent or fortune will take him. The dream will not happen, and he now faces the choice of accepting this fact like a grownup and moving on to more sensible pursuits, or refusing the truth and ending up bitter, quarrelsome, and slightly pathetic.”
– Barack Obama
Barack Obama Motivational Quotes
“I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.”
– Barack Obama
“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.”
– Barack Obama
“When we don’t pay close attention to the decisions made by our leaders, when we fail to educate ourselves about the major issues of the day, when we choose not to make our voices and opinions heard, that’s when democracy breaks down. That’s when power is abused. That’s when the most extreme voices in our society fill the void that we leave. That’s when powerful interests and their lobbyists are most able to buy access and influence in the corridors of power – because none of us are there to speak up and stop them.”
– Barack Obama
“Participation in public life doesn’t mean that you all have to run for public office – though we could certainly use some fresh faces in Washington. But it does mean that you should pay attention and contribute in any way that you can. Stay informed. Write letters, or make phone calls on behalf of an issue you care about. If electoral politics isn’t your thing, continue the tradition so many of you started here at Michigan and find a way to serve your community and your country – an act that will help you stay connected to your fellow citizens and improve the lives of those around you.”
– Barack Obama
“Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction.”
– Barack Obama
“In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power – including strong and principled diplomacy.”
– Barack Obama
“On every front, there are clear answers out there that can make this country stronger, but we’re going to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling. Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future.”
– Barack Obama
“With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs. I’m going to press on for equality. I’m going to press on for the sake of our children. I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.”
– Barack Obama
Barack Obama Life Changing Quotes
“We didn’t become the most prosperous country in the world just by rewarding greed and recklessness. We didn’t come this far by letting the special interests run wild. We didn’t do it just by gambling and chasing paper profits on Wall Street. We built this country by making things, by producing goods we could sell.”
– Barack Obama
“In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can’t afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.”
– Barack Obama
“The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact.”
– Barack Obama
“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.”
– Barack Obama
“Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,’ he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. ‘Shake it off. Stop complainin’. Stop grumblin’. Stop cryin’. We are going to press on. We have work to do.”
– Barack Obama
“Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.”
– Barack Obama
Barack Obama Quotes
“We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.”
– Barack Obama
“My identity might begin with the fact of my race, but it didn’t, couldn’t end there. At least that’s what I would choose to believe.”
– Barack Obama
“When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk.”
– Barack Obama
“I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the emperor of the United States.”
– Barack Obama
“Change is never easy, but always possible.”
– Barack Obama
“The cynics may be the loudest voices – but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.”
– Barack Obama
“You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.”
– Barack Obama
“Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy.”
— Barack Obama
“We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it.”
— Barack Obama
“In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”
– Barack Obama
“If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you don’t run you’ve already lost.”
— Barack Obama
“The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then to start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved.”
— Barack Obama
“I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.”
— Barack Obama
“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
“Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.”
— Barack Obama
“If you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like or who you love.”
— Barack Obama
“Keep exploring. Keep dreaming. Keep asking why. Don’t settle for what you already know. Never stop believing in the power of your ideas, your imagination, your hard work to change the world.”
— Barack Obama
“We are the change we have been waiting for.”
― Barack Obama
“We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer – our homeland more secure, our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation.”
– Barack Obama
“Michelle’s like Beyoncé in that song. ‘Let me upgrade ya!’ She upgraded me.”
— Barack Obama
“We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up.”
— Barack Obama
“What Washington needs is adult supervision.”
– Barack Obama
“Where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.”
— Barack Obama
“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”
― Barack Obama
“When times get tough, we don’t give up. We get up.”
— Barack Obama
“We may not be able to stop evil in the world, but how we treat one another is entirely up to us.”
― Barack Obama