I didn't deserve to be president just based on the Richter scale of 'Was I tough enough and did I understand the process?'

There's no reason the nation of Africa cannot and should not join the ranks of the world's most prosperous nations in the near term, in the decades ahead. There is simply no reason.

A lot of people criticized me for speaking out, not long ago, about gay marriage. I could not remain silent any longer. It's the civil rights of our day. It's the issue of our day.

When you question a man's motives, when you say they are acting out of greed, they are in the pocket of an interest group, et cetera. It's awful hard to reach consensus. It's awful hard to reach across the table and shake hands. No matter how bitterly you disagree, though, it is always possible if you question judgment and not motive.

You're looking at a middle-class guy. I am who I am.

Think about the decade after Iraq, not just the day after.

People took the word "clean" out of context. My mother had an expression: "clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack." I inherited her originality.