Barack Obama

When I was a kid, I inhaled. Frequently. That was the point.

Meeting of the American Society of Magazine Editors (Oct. 2006) — "10 politicians puffing about pot" by M. J. Lee, POLITICO (19 March 2012), 2006

Most of all, I want to thank you for all the generous advance coverage you've given me in anticipation of a successful career. When I actually do something, we'll let you know.

Speech to reporters, 2006 Gridiron Dinner., 2006

Evolution is more grounded in my experience than angels.

Interview by David Remnick at the American Magazine Conference (23 October 2006), 2006

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

Speech on the floor of the US Senate in which he opposed raising the US debt limit. (16 March 2006), 2006

When we think of the major threats to our national security, the first to come to mind are nuclear proliferation, rogue states and global terrorism. But another kind of threat lurks beyond our shores, one from nature, not humans — an avian flu pandemic.

New York Times op-ed "Grounding a Pandemic" (6 June 2005) by Barack Obama and Richard Lugar, 2005

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.

Knox College Commencement Address (4 June 2005), 2005

I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator.

"Uncovering the Real Abe Lincoln: What I See in Lincoln's Eyes" Time magazine (26 June 2005), 2005

Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement.

Speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (12 July 2004), 2004

Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism have reduced the pace of military transformation and have revealed our lack of preparation for defensive and stability operations. This Administration has overextended our military.

Speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (12 July 2004), 2004

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."

"The Candidate" in The New Yorker (31 May 2004), 2004

On Iraq, on paper, there's not as much difference, I think, between the Bush administration and a Kerry administration as there would have been a year ago. There's not much of a difference between my position and George Bush's position at this stage.

"Obama's a Star Who Doesn't Follow the Script" by John Kass in The Chicago Tribune (27 July 2004), 2004

That's silly talk... Talk to my wife. She'll tell me I need to learn to just put my socks on the hamper.

"Barack the Blessed" by Jim Geraghty in National Review (27 July 2004) quoting Obama on his Presidential aspirations as stated on Meet the Press the previous Sunday., 2004

I'm proud of the fact that I stood up early and unequivocally in opposition to Bush's foreign policy. That opposition hasn't changed.

Letter to The Black Commentator (19 June 2003)., 2000

You got these $10,000-a-plate dinners and Golden Circles Clubs. I think when the average voter looks at that, they rightly feel they're locked out of the process. They can't attend a $10,000 breakfast and they know that those who can are going to get the kind of access they can't imagine.

As quoted in "A Newcomer to the Business of Politics has Seen Enough to Reach Some Conclusions About Restoring Voters' Trust", by Joe Frolik, inThe Plain Dealer (3 August 1996), 1996

I'm not interested in the suburbs. The suburbs bore me. And I'm not interested in isolating myself. I feel good when I'm engaged in what I think are the core issues of the society, and those core issues to me are what's happening to poor folks in this society.

Informing the interviewer that he wasn't interested in merely being a financial success and moving to the suburbs, in "No Cushy Post for this Pioneer Harvard Law Review Chief Plans to Work in Inner City", by Allison J Pugh in The Akron Beacon-Journal (19 April 1990), 1990