Barack Obama Quotes

Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People.

Taking care of people is the duty of every politician.

History will judge societies and governments — and their institutions — not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless.

Without care, there is no democracy.

Till I see money spent on the betterment of man instead of on his idleness and destruction, I shall not believe in any perfect form of government.

There are some who ask us to believe that if we want the best of times for ourselves, the fit and the fortunate, then we'll just have to learn to live with the worst of times for millions of other Americans - that we're doomed to be a nation of the lucky and the left-out. I don't believe it. My mother didn't believe it. Your ancestors didn't believe it. And I don't think you should believe it.

I think the idea that a society has to be responsible for all of its citizens, those who do well and those who do not, is really a precondition of a good society.

My sermon for us Americans would be to construct the kind of institutions of mutuality and social cooperation that don't leave 15 or 20 percent of our people falling through the cracks. We can do it. It's not like we don't know what to do. It's not like there aren't models there. It's not like this isn't being done elsewhere. It's not like we can't afford to do it. It's a question of political will and it's about our definition as a people.

The final end of government is not to exert restraint but to do good.

Part of the responsibility of government is to serve the needs of those that have the least among us.

Free enterprise has a role in our society. But it's role must be in accord with the objectives of our people. Only where this role contributes to well-being should we give a encouragement through the use of public funds.

The legitimate object of government is "to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.

The end of government is the good of mankind.

The people of this country come first—not the institutions.

We have not abandoned our old belief in liberty, justice, and Self-help, but we say that under certain conditions the people cannot help themselves, and that then they should be helped by the State representing directly the whole people.

It is not enough to teach our young people to be successful...so they can realize their ambitions, so they can earn good livings, so they can accumulate the material things that this society bestows. Those are worthwhile goals. But it is not enough to progress as individuals while our friends and neighbors are left behind

All men are born free. Some are certainly endowed with grater intelligence, stronger will or a greater portion of wealth than others, but that gives them—the cleverer, the stronger, the richer—not the least right to rule over the duller, the weaker, the poorer. God, the Father of us all, has made mankind, without exception, to be happy, and so the obligation is laid on us, as far as is possible, to make each other happy.

It is my responsibility that I must make demonstrative efforts to reach out to every citizen of the country.

I don't know how we will ever have the moral authority to deal with social welfare if we can't deal with corporate welfare.

A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

I'm, you know, having begun my public service in state government. I very much respect the authority of states to make the decisions to provide for its citizen - the safety and welfare of its citizens.

With Ronald Reagan in the White House, somebody had to look out for those who were not so fortunate. That's where I came in.

I want to know why the government of this country can't take care of the people who are keeping us safe?

It is up to Labour to keep alive the belief that government should be for the whole nation and that no section of society should place itself beyond scrutiny and above the law.

One should do what is good for the country.