Quotes from Barack Obama

I'm not going to Wall Street [after the presidency]. The amount of time that I'll be investing in issues is going to be high. But it'll be necessarily in a different capacity.

When it comes to crime, the violent crime rate in America has been lowered during my presidency and any time in the last three, four decades.

I reserve the right, as president of the United States to meet with anybody at a time and place of my choosing if I think it's going to keep America safe.

Maybe at the same time as I'm more confident today, I'm also more humble.

We cannot solve the problems of America if every time somebody somewhere says something stupid, that everybody gets up in arms and we forget about the war in Iraq or we forget about the economy.

The Cold War has been over for a long time. I'm not interested in having battles that, frankly, started before I was born.

It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.

If I did not love America, I wouldn't have moved here from Kenya.

Love and hope can conquer hate.

Who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense

And that means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.

Of course, there is no question that Libya - and the world - will be better off with Gaddafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal, and will actively pursue it through non-military means. But broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake.

The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries.

It's not enough to train today's workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow's workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.

What I worry about would be that you essentially have two chambers, the House and the Senate, but you have simply, majoritarian, absolute power on either side. And that's just not what the founders intended.

It's one of the few regrets of my presidency - that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

Whether our forebears were strangers who crossed the Atlantic or the Pacific or the Rio Grande, we are here only because this country welcomed them in and taught them that to be an American is about something more than what we look like, or what our last names are, or how we worship.

In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can't afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.

We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender.

The most important thing you need to do [in this job] is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking.

No one built this country on their own. This nation is great because we built it together.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet.

We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

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