It was as if he had come to mistrust words somehow. Words, and the sentiments words carried.

I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing.

I try to make it a rule not to meddle in other people's politics.

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination.

To me the question right now is: How do I close that first three-quarters of the achievement gap, education gap, wealth gap? What gives me the best chance to do that? And I'm pretty darn sure that if America is a just society and treating people well right now, irrespective of past wrongs, that I'm going to close a big chunk of that gap. I've seen it.

I believe that if we stop talking at one another and start talking with one another, we can get a lot done.

There's no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly capable of defending their own country.