--- title: Barack Obama: 11 Most Inspirational Quotes description: Celebrate President Barack Obama's birthday with 11 of his most inspiring quotes from speeches throughout his career canonical: https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/ author: Priyanka Aribindi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-04T16:20:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:04.446Z og:title: Barack Obama’s 11 Most Inspirational Quotes og:description: Celebrate the President’s 55th birthday with the words that got him this far og:url: https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7370a2f100a4766/6988a11b524fc09642df90a1/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama Inspirational Quotes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama’s 11 Most Inspirational Quotes twitter:description: Celebrate the President’s 55th birthday with the words that got him this far twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7370a2f100a4766/6988a11b524fc09642df90a1/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama’s 11 Most Inspirational Quotes > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Priyanka Aribindi](https://time.com/author/priyanka-aribindi/) ## Priyanka Aribindi Aug 4, 2016 4:20 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alex Wong/Getty Images by [Priyanka Aribindi](https://time.com/author/priyanka-aribindi/) ## Priyanka Aribindi Aug 4, 2016 4:20 PM UTC From the speech that put him on the map during the 2004 DNC to the widely quoted remarks he made at [last week’s convention](http://time.com/4426533/convention-speakers-to-focus-on-hillary-clintons-experience/) nearly 12 years later, [President Obama](http://motto.time.com/4438628/president-obama-feminism-essay/)’s flair for the spoken word is widely praised. Celebrate the President’s 55th birthday with a collection of his most meaningful quotes: **On motivation:** “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition.” ([Knox College Commencement Address](http://departments.knox.edu/newsarchive/news%5Fevents/2005/obamaaddress.html), 2005) **On hope:** “Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.” ([Iowa Caucus Speech](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/politics/03obama-transcript.html), 2008) **On ‘yes we can’:** “We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: ‘Yes we can.’” ([New Hampshire Primary Speech](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/us/politics/08text-obama.html?%5Fr=0), 2008) **On American greatness:** “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.” ([Inauguration address](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/01/21/president-barack-obamas-inaugural-address), 2009) **On humanity:** “All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort — a sustained effort — to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.” ([On A New Beginning](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09), Cairo 2009) **On getting help:** “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own… I’m always struck by people who think, ‘well, it must be because I was just so smart.’ There are a lot of smart people out there. ‘It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.’ Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.” ([Campaign Speech in Roanoke](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia), 2012) **On ending hate**: “The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression; it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.” ([Remarks to the UN General Assembly](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly), 2012) **On love:** “There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.” ([Sandy Hook Prayer Vigil](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/12/16/remarks-president-sandy-hook-interfaith-prayer-vigil), 2012) **On perseverance:** “You can’t give up your passion if things don’t work right away. You can’t lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey. The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference.” ([Ohio State Commencement](https://www.osu.edu/index.php?q=features/2013/obamacommencement.html), 2013) **On women:** “As husbands and fathers and brothers, we have to step up, because every girl’s life matters. Every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons. Every woman should be able to go about her day — to walk the streets or ride the bus — and be safe, and be treated with respect and dignity. She deserves that.” ([Address to the People of India](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/27/remarks-president-obama-address-people-india), 2015) **On difference**: “Because for all our differences, we are one people, stronger together than we could ever be alone. That’s always been our story. We are big and vast and diverse; a nation of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, different experiences and stories, but bound by our shared ideal that no matter who you are or what you look like, how you started off, or how and who you love, America is a place where you can write your own destiny.” ([Remarks on Supreme Court Marriage Equality](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-president-supreme-court-decision-marriage-equality), 2015) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/"},"headline":"Barack Obama’s 11 Most Inspirational Quotes","datePublished":"2016-08-04T16:20:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:04.446Z","description":"Celebrate the President’s 55th birthday with the words that got him this far","url":"https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7370a2f100a4766/6988a11b524fc09642df90a1/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Priyanka Aribindi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/priyanka-aribindi/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7370a2f100a4766/6988a11b524fc09642df90a1/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama Inspirational Quotes","caption":"Democratic National Convention: Day Three","creditText":"Alex Wong/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4438301/barack-obama-inspirational-quotes/","name":"Barack Obama’s 11 Most Inspirational Quotes"}}]}] ```