My belief has always been... that wherever in this land any individual's constitutional rights are being unjustly denied, it is the obligation of the federal government-at point of bayonet if necessary-to restore that individual's constitutional rights

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.

Yes, the cost is high, but the price of neglect would be infinitely higher.

Only our deep moral values and our strong social institutions can hold back that jungle and restrain the darker impulses of human nature.

The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?