The solid truth of the matter is, when you find - if you want to help heal the hurt, if you want to hurt people and - help people in pain, the best way to do so is to call upon the great strength of the country, which is the compassion of our fellow Americans.

I am honored to have served. I'm glad I ran. It is a huge honor to be able to be a two-term president. It was really a great experience. I'm fortunate to have been able to serve. And I think that's enough.

If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road.

It is no accident that the rise of so many democracies took place in a time when the world's most influential nation was itself a democracy.

I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office.

I can look you in the eye and tell you I feel I've tried to solve the problem diplomatically to the max, and would have committed troops both in Afghanistan and Iraq knowing what I know today.

I want to live out principles that became a part of my life in my 40s, 50s, and 60s. One principle is the universality of freedom.