No matter what, we always have the power to choose hope over despair, engagement over apathy, kindness over indifference, love over hate.

The change we seek for our nation is not the choice of an individual but must be the calling of a country.

I sit in the Senate, and see what Republicans are often advocating, it's those kind of tax loopholes for the richest of the rich or, frankly, for corporations and giving incentives for them to move jobs and opportunity overseas.

In America we have a Declaration of Independence, but our history, our advancements, our global strength all point to an American declaration of interdependence.

I want you to understand that racial justice is not about justice for those who are black or brown; racial justice is about American justice. Justice for LGBT Americans is not about gay and lesbian justice; it's about American justice. Equality for women isn't about women; it's about United States equality. You cannot enjoy justice anywhere in this country until we make sure there is justice everywhere in this country.

In life, it is never the big battle, the big moment, the big speech, the big election. That does not change things. What changes things is every day, getting up and rendering small acts of service and love beyond that what's expected of you or required of you.

Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says, 'I must keep going.' It's that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final. That voice that says to you, 'Get out of bed. Keep going. I will not quit.'