Barack Obama Quotes about Opportunity

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Barack Obama

Responsibility, Opportunity, Offers

Obama's Speech to Students at Cairo University in Cairo, www.cbsnews.com. June 4, 2009.

The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.

Barack Obama

Opportunity

In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity - it is a prerequisite.

Barack Obama

Education, Money, Opportunity

First Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, delivered 24 February 2009

When people see opportunity, when they have a sense of control of their own destiny, then they're less vulnerable to the propaganda and twisted ideologies that have been attracting young people - particularly being turbocharged through social media.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Destiny, Media

Interview with Jon Sopel, www.bbc.com. July 24, 2015.

We have proved that the true strength of our nation comes not from the scale of our wealth but from the power of our ideals - opportunity, democracy, liberty and hope.

Barack Obama

Strong, Opportunity, Democracy

So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.

Barack Obama

Writing, Destiny, Opportunity

"The Action Americans Need". www.washingtonpost.com. February 5, 2009.

Peace is not just the absence of war. True peace depends upon creating the opportunity that makes life worth living. And to do that, we must confront the common enemies of human beings: nuclear weapons and poverty; ignorance and disease.

Barack Obama

War, Ignorance, Opportunity

Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

Barack Obama

Country, Opportunity, Journey

Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

Iran . . . has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful . . . time is not unlimited.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Nuclear Iran, Peaceful

"Barack Obama speaks to to the UN general assembly - US politics live" by Richard Adams, www.theguardian.com. September 25, 2012.

On my recent trip to Israel, I had the opportunity to visit Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial, and reaffirm our collective responsibility to confront anti-Semitism, prejudice, and intolerance across the world. On this Yom Hashoah, we must accept the full responsibility of remembrance, as nations and as individuals-not simply to pledge "never again," but to commit ourselves to the understanding, empathy and compassion that is the foundation of peace and human dignity.

Barack Obama

Responsibility, Opportunity, Compassion

Statement from the President on Yom Hashoah, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. April 08, 2013.

Because this is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities to fulfill their dreams.

Barack Obama

Dream, Country, Opportunity

Statement by the President on Roe v. Wade Anniversary, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. January 22, 2014.

Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility. The idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that we're all in it together and everybody's got a shot at opportunity. Americans know this. We know that government can't solve all our problems - and we don't want it to. But we also know that there are some things we can't do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.

Barack Obama

Country, Responsibility, Opportunity

Barack Obama (2009). “Barack Obama: Speeches on the Road to the White House”

Any strategy to reduce intergenerational poverty has to be centered on work, not welfare--not only because work provides independence and income but also because work provides order, structure, dignity, and opportunities for growth in people's lives.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Order, People

Barack Obama (2006). “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”, p.178, Crown

We live in a moment when the dream of equal opportunity is within reach.

Barack Obama

Dream, Opportunity, Moments

If we neglect or abandon those who are suffering in poverty ... not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities for markets and economic growth, but ultimately that despair may turn to violence that turns on us.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Suffering, Growth

That just gives sort of the democracy an opportunity to test ideas, for those who lost to catch their breath, regain energy, re-energize themselves and then get back in the arena, and then we'll make some more progress in the future.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Ideas, Giving

Source: abcnews.go.com

Let's remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defence against threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Understanding, Remember

Now, as a nation, we don't promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That's an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Should Have, Ideas

The irony is that we've seen this model work really well in Massachusetts because Gov. Romney did a good thing, working with Democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. It hasn't destroyed jobs. And as a consequence, we now have a system in which we have the opportunity to start bringing down costs as opposed to just leaving millions of people out in the cold." "Gov. Romney said this has to be done on a bipartisan basis

Barack Obama

Jobs, Opportunity, People

"The First presidential debate between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, in Denver". www.npr.org. October 3, 2012.

That may prevent us from getting a deal done, It is there to be had. Whether ultimately Iran can seize that opportunity - we will have to wait and see, but it is not for lack of trying on our part.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Iran, Waiting

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Barack Obama

Heart, Opportunity, Charity

First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

I am looking forward to getting out of the bubble. I am glad that I'm leaving this place at a relatively young age, at 55. So I have the opportunity for a second maybe even a third act in a way that I think would be tougher if I were, you know, the age of some presidents when they left.

Barack Obama

Opportunity, Thinking, Leaving

Source: www.cbsnews.com

What can I do to make sure that middle-class families are feeling more secure, that more young people are able to access opportunity, that we are safe, that we are working with our international partners to try to create more order at a time when there's a lot of chaos? How do we deal with terrorism in a way that's consistent with our values? As long as I stay focused on those north stars, then I tend not to get too rattled.

Barack Obama

Stars, Opportunity, Order

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Those opportunity gaps begin early, often at birth. And they compound over time, becoming harder and harder to bridge, making too many young men and women feel like, no matter how hard they try, they may never achieve their dreams.

Barack Obama

Dream, Men, Opportunity

Source: www.pbs.org

We are going through historic times, and my vision is a world, first of all, in which America continues to be that one indispensable nation. Because we're taking care of our own people, because our economy is strong and our middle class is growing, and people feel like hard work is rewarded, and we are continuing to expand opportunity and diversity and tolerance and respect.

Barack Obama

Strong, Hard Work, Opportunity

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com