I think perhaps education doesn’t do us much good unless it is mixed with sweat.

If the critics are right that I've made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them.

If we can't meet with our friends, I don't know how we're going to lead the world in terms of dealing with critical issues like terrorism.

I was pretty realistic to people about what we could get done, and the situation we were in, and trying to tamp down expectations. If you listen to my stump speeches, if you listen to what I said at Grant Park, I kept on saying, "Look, this is not just about me, this is not going to happen in one year, or one term, or even one presidency." And we tried to layer into everything we were saying a sense of hope, but also realism.

For the young people here: practicality is a good thing. There are times where compromise is necessary. That's part of wisdom. But it's also important to hang on to what you believe.

The world doesn't just revolve around you. There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit.

How do we transform mere power into justice, mere sentiment into love?