“So I think, if September 11 taught us anything, it taught us that we’re vulnerable, and vulnerable in ways that we didn’t fully understand.”

Democracy is the most realistic way for diverse peoples to resolve their differences, and share power, and heal social divisions without violence or repression.

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.

Self esteem comes from achievements. Not from lax standards and false praise.

People want to psychoanalyze me, but the fact is, I’m not that complicated. I’m pretty straightforward. And I’m not all that self-reflective, because I tend to be a doer.

It’s bad policy to speculate on what you’ll do if a plan fails when you’re trying to make a plan work.

When diplomacy has been exhausted, the Security Council must become involved. Questions about Iran’s nuclear activities remain unanswered, despite repeated efforts by the IAEA.

I firmly believe you never should spend your time being the former anything.

History’s long arc is different than the today’s headlines.

In America, with education and hard work, it really does not matter where you came from; it matters only where you are going.

The quicker we get about the business of reducing our reliance on oil the better.

Every life is capable of greatness.

The best armor against everything around you is to be well educated, to work hard, to be twice as good as if you had to be, to do languages and culture better.

You can never ask others to do something you would not do. That is integrity.

Leading in a complex world means recognizing the simple things you can do to make things better.

We’re not going to negotiate about the terms of terrorism. You don’t negotiate about terrorism. It’s is wrong to engage in terrorism, and there isn’t anything to negotiate.

You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace and on the other dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable.

The older you get, the more you learn to see what you’ve been taught to see. When you’re a kid, you see what’s there.

I think autumn can teach us a lot about love. About how muh beauty can be hidden in layers of change.

Every person you meet has a lesson to teach, a story to tell and a dream to share.

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.

It is strange that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting.

I’ve never taught one, because if I taught one, I’d have to teach others. I would give myself over to a slavery, whereas I want to stay a free man.

The lessons one learns at school are not always the ones the school thinks it’s teaching.

No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves.