Barack Obama Quotes

They act as if they supposed that to be very sanguine about the general improvement of mankind is a virtue that relieves them from taking trouble about any improvement in particular.

Our mission in this new century is clear. For good or ill, we live in an interdependent world. We can't escape each other. Therefore, we have to spend our lives building a global community of shared responsibilities, shared values, shared benefits.

Not so long ago people believed in ideologies, systems, and institutions to save all societies. Today, they have given up such hopes and have returned to relying on the individual, on individual freedom, individual initiative, individual creativity.

Does a human being know the responsibility he has to himself and to all of mankind

The betterment of society is not a job to be left to a few. It's a responsibility to be shared by all.

To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man.

Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.

Human beings should be held accountable. Leave God alone. He has enough problems.

We too often prefer the individual thrill to collective responsibility.

We forget that we all are the people; that while each of us in his group can shove off on the rest the bill of today, the debt is only postponed; the rest are passing it back to us. We have to pay in the end, every one of us.

Racial lines, which once were bitterly real, now serve nothing more than marking out a living mosaic of human beings. And even here men of the same color are like the ivory keys of one instrument where each resembles all the rest, yet varies from them in pitch and quality of voice.

Most politicians will not stick their necks out unless they sense grass-roots support ... neither you nor I should expect someone else to take our responsibility.

Here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

It is a great law of social development that the movement from slavery to freedom is also a movement from security to insecurity of maintenance.

Our responsibility is much greater than we might have supposed, because it involves all mankind.

Just as we demand that people take responsibility for their actions, we as a society must take responsibility for fighting injustice.

We are united in that we want what's best for our country and our children.

Meeting people from different countries makes you realise that everyone around the world has the same needs and aspirations.

It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.

I was raised to believe that everybody has a responsibility to their community and I use the word very loosely. It's a big community. If I get recognized in the middle of the Sinai Desert I have a big community.

We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place--or not to bother

In our search for more, we have blinded ourselves to our personal responsibility for challenging these absurdities. A resource-based society considers us all equal shareholders of Earth. We are responsible both for the planet and for our relationship with each other.

If I'm not doing anything to make a change, then I'm responsible.

Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping toward destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interest of everyone hangs on the result. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the great historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us.

The lessons we have begun to learn make me hopeful, that human beings will become friendlier, more harmonious, less harmful. Compassion and the seeds of peace will be able to flourish. At the same time, every individual is responsible to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes alone are not enough; we have to take responsibility. Large human movements spring from individual human initiatives