“It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank accounts, that drives our democracy.”

If you’re a strong man, you should not feel threatened by strong women.

We are the change we have been waiting for.

What makes you a man is not the ability to make a child, it’s the courage to raise one.

Love and hope can conquer hate.

To be black was to be the beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we were strong enough to bear.

If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void.

Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.

Together we resolve that a great nation must care for the vulnerable and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

There is no excuse for not trying.

Each of us deserves the freedom to pursue our own version of happiness. No one deserves to be bullied.

The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

When times get tough, we don’t give up. We get up.

The future must not belong to those who bully women. It must be shaped by girls who go to school and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up.

Yes We Can!

Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.

I always take the audience into account.

Educate yourself, hold the people around you accountable, seek ways to help, and don’t sit on the sidelines.

Sometimes you gotta take accountability for the way you feel no matter what a person puts you through.

On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.

Money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account.

Forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?

Pig power in America was infuriating, but pig power in the communist framework was awesome and unaccountable.