"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
"Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close."
"The true test... is whether chance of birth or circumstance decides life's big winners and losers, or whether we build a community where... everyone has a chance to work hard, get ahead, and reach their dreams."
"It's been a great ride. But I know how quickly these fads can pass. You all remember the pet rock, the mood ring, Howard Dean."
"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."
When asked if he had ever tried smoking marijuana, Bill Clinton famously replied, yes... 'but I didn't inhale.' Asked the same question, Barack Obama said, "Look, when I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point."
"Each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but... we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect."
"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 realise your true potential."
"One of the things we have to change... is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism."
"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 realise their full potential."
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress"
"A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognise it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense'."
