“Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. Now, I've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were ten, twenty, thirty years ago — no matter what some will say [...] but we are still not where we need to be.”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“Our democracy will not work without the sense that everyone has an economic opportunity.”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“Democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders argued, quarreled, eventually they compromised. And they 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. We all rise and…”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“By almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than when we started.”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“That's what we mean when we say our nation has been exceptional. Not that we've been flawless from the start, but that we've been able to change.”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“Tonight it is my turn to say thanks. Whether we have seen eye-to-eye, or rarely agreed at all, the conversations I have had with you [...] have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. And every day I have learned from you”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“You can tell that I'm a lame duck, because nobody is following instructions! Everyone have a seat.”— Barack Obama, youtube.com
“But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”— Barack Obama, whitehouse.gov
“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 short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riche…”— Barack Obama, whitehouse.gov
“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”— Barack Obama, whitehouse.gov
“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.”— Barack Obama, whitehouse.gov
“Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the…”— Barack Obama, whitehouse.gov
“Don DeLillo is the only person I can think of who has confronted these questions of, you know, the individual who finds himself negotiating both vast currents of history and a very specific kind of power dynamics. That’s his milieu. And that’s what it’s like to work in the U.S. foreign-policy appara…”— Ben Rhodes, nytimes.com