There is a limit to what you can do in politics.

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

The White House is the leakiest place I've ever been in. (On special measures to ensure secrecy of plans to bomb Libya)

Freedom is the very essence of our nation. To be sure, ours is not a perfect nation. But even with our troubles, we remain the beacon of hope for oppressed peoples everywhere. Never give up the fight for freedom - a fight which, though it may never end, is the most ennobling known to man.

We do not deny any nation's legitimate interest in security. But protecting the security of one nation by robbing another of its national independence and national traditions is not legitimate. In the long run, it is not even secure.

[Andrew Jackson] was actually 70 years old when he left the White House

A state is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state.