200+ Barack Obama Quotes – Inspirational Quotes On Life
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the Joined Together States, is known for his political legacy and capacity to motivate with his words. Many find solace and motivation in the Most Popular Barack Obama Quotes, which encapsulate his wisdom and vision for a better world.
These quotes touch on themes of hope, change, and unity, resonating with individuals seeking guidance in their own lives.People turn to Most Popular Barack Obama Quotes to draw strength, to remind themselves of the enduring American spirit, and to rekindle their belief in a brighter future.
Join us as we explore the wise and inspiring quotes by Barack Obama.
Most Popular Barack Obama Quotes
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. – Barack Obama
Just because we have the best hammer doesn’t mean that every problem is a nail. – Barack Obama
Focusing 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 realize your true potential. – 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, 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
I am asking you to believe it. Not in my ability to bring about change – but in yours. — Barack Obama
The 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. — Barack Obama
Change is never easy, but always possible. — 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
The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope. – Barack Obama
The cynics may be the loudest voices, but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. – Barack Obama
Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it. – 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
My message to you is simple — keep believing, keep marching, keep building, keep raising your voice. Every generation has the opportunity to remake the world. Mandela said, ‘Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.’ Now is a good time to be aroused. Now is a good time to be fired up. – Barack Obama
You can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. – Barack Obama
The role of the citizen in a democracy does not end with your vote. – Barack Obama
My attitude about something like the presidency is that you don’t want to just be the president. You want to change the country. You want to make a unique contribution. You want to be a great president. – Barack Obama
This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, 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
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
Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference. – 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
Issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues. – 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
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
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress. – Barack Obama
When times get tough, we don’t give up. We get up. – 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
In the United States, hopefully, what we’re building are not just pyramids, are not icons to one pharaoh. What we’re building is a culture and a way of living together that we can look back on and say, this was good, was inclusive, was kind, was innovative, was able to fulfill the dreams of as many people as possible. – 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
Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom. – Barack Obama
The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous.
You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt. – Barack Obama
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 failures 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.
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: ‘Yes we can– Barack Obama
If you run you stand a chance of losing, but if you don’t run you’ve already lost. — Barack Obama
Love comes more naturally to the human heart. Let’s remember that truth. Let’s see it as our North Star. Let’s be joyful in our struggle to make that truth manifest here on earth…— Barack Obama
Too many times, after the election is over and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own. — Barack Obama
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. — Barack Obama
It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour workweek, 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
We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent. – Barack Obama
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. – Barack Obama
We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges. – Barack Obama
We are the change we have been waiting for. – Barack Obama
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. – Barack Obama
But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That’s what I strive to do, that’s what I pray to do every day. – 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
What I’m asking for is hard. It’s easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn’t possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don’t matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future. – Barack Obama
So regardless of the station, we occupy; we have to try harder; to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family as we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own. – Barack Obama
I’m so overexposed, I’m starting to make Paris Hilton look like a recluse. – Barack Obama
Progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path. – Barack Obama
Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. Because you’re who I was talking about twelve years ago, when I talked about hope – it’s been you who’ve fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long. Hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty; the audacity of hope. – Barack Obama
Why can’t I just eat my waffle? – Barack Obama
The worst thing that colonialism did was to cloud our view of our past. – Barack Obama
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of the short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. – Barack Obama
Look around. Strongman politics are ascendant suddenly, whereby elections and some pretense of democracy are maintained — the form of it — but those in power seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning. – 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
I’m running for president because the time for the can’t-do, won’t-do, won’t-even-try style of politics is over. It’s time to turn the page. – 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
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
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
Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do, and I will not let up until they get done. – Barack Obama
We need to reject any politics that target people because of race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith. – Barack Obama
We must carry forward the work of the women who came before us and ensure our daughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements, and no remaining ceilings to shatter. – Barack Obama
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
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. – Barack Obama
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion… — Barack Obama.
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.
I think perhaps education doesn’t do us much good unless it is mixed with sweat. — 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.
We don’t ask you to believe in our ability to bring change, rather, we ask you to believe in yours. – Barack Obama
We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort. We reject fatalism or cynicism when it comes to human affairs; we choose to work for the world as it should be, as our children deserve it to be. – Barack Obama
All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort — a sustained effort — to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings. – Barack Obama
We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. – Barack Obama
I think that I have the capacity to get people to recognize themselves in each other. – Barack Obama
This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st-century economy. Not this time. – Barack Obama
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
We want everybody to act like adults, quit playing games, realize that it’s not just my way or the highway. – Barack Obama
It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. – Barack Obama
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
We still believe that this should be a place where you can make it if you try. – Barack Obama
I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. – Barack Obama
If somebody is different from you, that’s not something you criticize, that’s something that you appreciate. – Barack Obama
And yes, it’s important that their dad is a feminist because now that’s what they expect of all men. – Barack Obama
One voice can change a room. – Barack Obama
This year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me – to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what’s best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation. – Barack Obama
My little girls can break my heart. They can make me cry just looking at them eating their string beans. – Barack Obama
We should do everything we can for our country to live up to our children’s expectations. – Barack Obama
The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression; it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect. – Barack Obama
My advisors were a little worried about the new rap entrance music – they’re a little more traditional. They suggested I start with some jokes at my own expense – just to take myself down a peg. I was like, “guys, guys, after four and a half years, how many pegs are there left? – Barack Obama
I actually believe my own rhetoric. – 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
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
Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy. – Barack Obama
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… – Barack Obama
Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity, the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together, that we rise and fall as one. – Barack Obama
Now we’re in the midst of not just advocating for change, not just calling for change — we’re doing the grinding, sometimes frustrating work of delivering change — inch by inch, day by day. – Barack Obama
They marched as Americans who had endured hundreds of years of brutal violence, countless daily indignities –- but they didn’t seek special treatment, just the equal treatment promised to them almost a century before. – Barack Obama
There is no excuse for not trying. – Barack Obama
America isn’t about ‘yes he will.’ It’s about ‘yes we can. – Barack Obama
Our stories may be singular, but our destination is shared. – Barack Obama
If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own… I’m always struck by people who think, ‘well, it must be because I was just so smart.’ There are a lot of smart people out there. ‘It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.’ Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. – Barack Obama
Those who have the privilege to serve this country have an obligation to do our job as best we can… that’s why disagreement cannot mean dysfunction… the American people’s hopes and dreams are what matters, not ours. – Barack Obama
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. – 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
What we need in Washington is not more political tactics – we need more good ideas. – Barack Obama
It’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education. – Barack Obama
We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world – including in my own country. – Barack Obama.
America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us. It’s always been about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self-government. – Barack Obama.
There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America – there’s the United States of America. – Barack Obama.
No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your ‘religious freedom’. If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs. – Barack Obama
There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true. – Barack Obama
Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us. – Barack Obama
I do have confidence that we’re gonna be able to get it right. But it’s not gonna be overnight. – 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
It’s important to realize I was actually black before the election. – Barack Obama
The internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the internet so that all the companies could make money off the internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. – Barack Obama
The future is ours to win. But to get there we can’t just standstill. – Barack Obama
You have to stay encouraged. Don’t get cynical. Don’t ever think you can’t make a difference. – Barack Obama
By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started. And through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime. – Barack Obama
It’s important to make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in the way that wounds. – Barack Obama
As husbands and fathers and brothers, we have to step up, because every girl’s life matters. Every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons. Every woman should be able to go about her day — to walk the streets or ride the bus — and be safe, and be treated with respect and dignity. She deserves that. – Barack Obama
And, you know, obviously, at the inauguration I think that there was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination in this country. But that lasted about a day. – Barack Obama
In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depend on all elements of our power – including strong and principled diplomacy. – Barack Obama
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? – Barack Obama
What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and love, and joy. We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves. We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures. And we can strive at all costs to make a better world. – Barack Obama
As you know, Spotlight is a film about investigative journalists with the resources and the autonomy to chase down the truth and hold the powerful accountable. Best fantasy film since Star Wars. – Barack Obama
Nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change. – Barack Obama
Well, I had a habit of praying every night, before I go to bed. I pray all the time now. Because I’ve got a lot of stuff on my plate and I need guidance all the time. – 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
A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship — and you know what, a father does, too. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode. – Barack Obama
Don’t ever let anybody tell you that your efforts don’t matter or that your voice doesn’t count. Don’t ever believe that you can’t make a difference. You have. – Barack Obama
I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online. – Barack Obama
You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. – Barack Obama
Look, you know, when you’re in this job, I think, uh—every president who’s had it is constantly humbled by the degree to which there are a lot of issues out there, and the notion that one person alone can solve all these problems—I think you’re cured of that illusion very quickly. – Barack Obama
Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world. – Barack Obama
I believe our sorrow can make us a better country. I believe our righteous anger can be transformed into more justice and more peace. Weeping may endure for a night but I’m convinced joy comes in the morning. — Barack Obama
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. – Barack Obama
Exercise every day. Seeing my family. Keeping things in perspective. Reading history. Reminding yourself that this is a long-term proposition and you’re not going to get everything exactly right, but hopefully, if you’re moving things in the right trajectory, that things usually work out. – Barack Obama
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
A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things. – Barack Obama
When people say ‘Black Lives Matter, that doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter. — 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
You know, we live in history. And it’s complicated. And things aren’t always, you know, completely clean. – 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
This is the paradox that defines our world today. The world is more prosperous than ever before and yet our societies are marked by uncertainty and unease. – Barack Obama
You have the ability and gifts to do whatever you want”. It is your turn now to change the world. Yes, we can! – Barack Obama
You know this is a town where once a screw-up happens, people can’t just say, ‘OK, that was a screw-up and let’s fix it.’ There has to be, you know, two weeks’ worth of cable chatter about it. – Barack Obama
We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up. — Barack Obama
If you want to persuade me that everything is going to be terrible, then we can talk ourselves into that. Or we can act.— Barack Obama
We will outstretch the hand if you unclench your fist. – Barack Obama
Let’s acknowledge that democracy has always been messy. Let’s not be overly nostalgic. – Barack Obama
I am a firm believer that you don’t do anything significant by yourself. — Barack Obama
Our values call upon us to care about the lives of people we will never meet. – Barack Obama
You know, look, our political life is like our individual lives. There are ups and downs. There are peaks and valleys. – Barack Obama
Aside from any particular issue, the president needs to recognize that this is not about you. – Barack Obama
Most Popular Barack Obama Quotes illuminate the path of hope, unity, and change in a world seeking inspiration. Most Popular Barack Obama Quotes empower us to build a better tomorrow together.