Politics

Our problems are manmade — therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

The elevation of appearance over substance, of celebrity over character, of short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end.

Great necessities call out great virtues. We live in a time of great necessities — a time when we cannot avoid the burdens of global leadership.

If wise men decline it, others will not; if honest men refuse it, others will not.

Standing up for one's own integrity makes you no friends. It is costly. Yet defiance of the mob, in the service of that which is right, is one of the highest expressions of courage I know.

It is much easier to describe the structural challenges we face than to describe the human response to those challenges that will change history.

Learn humility and wisdom when you stumble, because it will help you when you succeed.

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond preparing to doing.

Americans deserve more than tolerance from one another; we deserve each other's respect, whether we think each other right or wrong in our views, as long as our character and our sincerity merit respect.

We have so much more that unites us than divides us.

Human rights, security, and development, taken together, make up the idea of 'larger freedom.' A young man who has HIV, who cannot read or write, and who lives on the brink of starvation is not truly free — even if he can vote to choose his rulers.

In a free and compassionate society, the public good depends on private character. That character is formed and shaped in institutions like family, faith, and the many civil and social organizations.