People are whupped. I’m whupped. My wife is whupped. Unless it’s your job to be curious, who really has the time to sit and ask questions and explore issues?
BARACK OBAMA, The New Yorker, May 31, 2004
“Looks like some of these reporters might need a good whuppin’.”
A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, “Huh. It works. It makes sense.”
BARACK OBAMA, The New Yorker, May 31, 2004
“Which may explain why you haven’t heard anyone say that since I’ve been in office.”
My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.
BARACK OBAMA, speech at 2004 Democratic Convention
“…because in America you can spend other people’s money. By the way, YOU are the other people. Pay up, suckers!”
In a country of 300 million people, there is a certain degree of audacity required for anybody to say, “I’m the best person to lead this country.”
BARACK OBAMA, Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2006
“Fortunately, Lincoln’s ‘all of the people, some of the time‘ thing goes double on election days. You go, Abraham!”
I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manufacturer’s lobby. But I also believe that when a gangbanger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd because he feels someone disrespected him, we have a problem of morality. Not only do we need to punish that man for his crime, but we need to acknowledge that there’s a hole in his heart, one that government programs alone may not be able to repair.
BARACK OBAMA, The Audacity of Hope
“But most importantly, we need to make sure that no one in that inner city crowd that was fired into has a gun of their own to put an actual hole in that gangbanger’s heart. Safety first!”
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, Daily Southtown, Feb. 19, 2005
“I will make it so that the ambitious HAVE to work hard – just to pay all my new taxes.”
The evangelists’ success points to a hunger for the product they are selling, a hunger that goes beyond any particular issue or cause. They need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them.
BARACK OBAMA, The Audacity of Hope
“And I can assure you, people ARE listening. Listening VERY carefully…”
The country is not as polarized as our politics would suggest.
BARACK OBAMA, interview, Oct. 27, 2006
“Trust me, this comes straight from official NSA data.”
If we aren’t willing to pay a price for our values, then we should ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all.
BARACK OBAMA, The Audacity of Hope
“Uhhhh… nope.”
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. it’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Jul. 12, 2006
“I choose to persevere because I have no shame.”
Americans know that government can’t solve all our problems – and we don’t want it to. But we also know that there are some things we can’t do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Aug. 7, 2006
“And I’ll make you do them together whether you want to or not.”
Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility. The idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that we’re all in it together and everybody’s got a shot at opportunity.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Aug. 7, 2006
“Except for those nutters trying to run non-profit Tea Party organizations.”
When people are judged by merit, not connections, then the best and brightest can lead the country, people will work hard, and the entire economy will grow – everyone will benefit and more resources will be available for all, not just select groups.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Aug. 28, 2006
“My select groups WILL, however, still get to decide who gets what.”
You know, there’s a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit – the ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes; to see the world through the eyes of those who are different from us – the child who’s hungry, the steelworker who’s been laid-off, the family who lost the entire life they built together when the storm came to town. When you think like this – when you choose to broaden your ambit of concern and empathize with the plight of others, whether they are close friends or distant strangers – it becomes harder not to act; harder not to help.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Aug. 11, 2006
“Of course, me spending the nation into oblivion while taxing you into the poorhouse probably isn’t helping matters any.”
