Inaugural Quotes

• We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations

  Barack Obama

  Children, Knowing, Generations

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

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• For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

  John F. Kennedy

  Men, Issues, Rights

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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• To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

  Barack Obama

  People, Judging, Leader

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• We will respond to the threat of climate change

  Barack Obama

  Climate, Threat, Inauguration

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

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• To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

  Barack Obama

  Hands, Deceit, Fists

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• No people can be bound to acknowledge the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the united States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency

  George Washington

  Christian, Character, Independent

  George Washington (2011). “Washington's Political Legacies: With a Biographical Outline of His Life and Character”, p.58, Cambridge University Press

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• To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

  Barack Obama

  Mutual Interest, Hands, Way Forward

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• Let it be said to our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we didn't turn our back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

  Barack Obama

  Children, Eye, Journey

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

  Barack Obama

  Grateful, Sacrifice, Today

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

  Barack Obama

  Ideas, Promise, Generations

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. So let us mark this day with remebrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled.

  Barack Obama

  Determination, Government, People

  Barack Obama (2009). “The Inaugural Address, 2009: Together with Abraham Lincoln's First and Second Inaugural Addresses and The Gettysburg Address and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance”, p.14, Penguin

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• It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break; the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

  Barack Obama

  Jobs, Children, Kindness

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof

  John F. Kennedy

  Weakness, Sides, Remember

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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• Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside

  John F. Kennedy

  Power, Best Effort, Riding

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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• Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

  Abraham Lincoln

  War, Party, Acceptance

  Second Inaugural Address, delivered 4 March 1865

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• The foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principle of private morality.

  George Washington

  Foundation, Principles, Politics

  George Washington (1855). “Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious”, p.277

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• Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shrink neither.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Presidential, Given, Duty

  Theodore Roosevelt's address to the nation (March 4, 1905), as quoted in "Ten Memorable Inaugural Addresses", www.realclearpolitics.com. January 16, 2013.

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• Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Education, Patriotic, Free Opinion

  First Inaugural Address, 4 Mar. 1801

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• There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.

  William J. Clinton

  Memorial Day, Freedom, 4th Of July

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• For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

  Barack Obama

  Heritage, Weakness, Patchwork

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it.

  John F. Kennedy

  Freedom, Responsibility, Long

  Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

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• For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

  John F. Kennedy

  Doubt, Arms, Certain

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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• Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

  John F. Kennedy

  Art, Stars, Ocean

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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• Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths.

  Barack Obama

  Loyalty, Honesty, Hard Work

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do-for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and
  split asunder.

  John F. Kennedy

  Powerful, Odds, Challenges

  Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1961

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