Being attentive to inequality and not tone deaf to it. But offering prescriptions that are actually going to help folks in communities that feel forgotten. That's going to be our most important strategy. And I think we can successfully do that. Barack Obama More Quotes by Barack Obama More Quotes From Barack Obama When I've sent young men and women into harm's way, I always understand that that is the last resort, not the first resort. Barack Obama lasts men way There's no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly capable of defending their own country. Barack Obama should reason-why country In order for us to compete with China, we've also got to make sure, though, that we're taking - taking care of business here at home. If we don't have the best education system in the world, if we don't continue to put money into research and technology that will allow us to create great businesses here in the United States, that's how we lose the competition. Barack Obama technology home order Cutting our education budget, that's not a smart choice. That will not help America compete with China. Barack Obama smart cutting america As Commander in Chief, I will maintain the strongest military in the world, keep faith with our troops and go after those who would do us harm. But after a decade of war, I think we all recognize we've got to do some nation building here at home, rebuilding our roads, our bridges and especially caring for our Veterans who sacrificed so much for our freedom. Barack Obama military home war The campaign was a more significant training ground than I think people give it credit for. By the time I got here, I think I had a pretty good sense of what was required. But the circumstances in which I came in were different than most executives, right? The enterprise was in the midst of a major crisis. Barack Obama giving people thinking I just want to say that the only thing less popular than putting money into banks is putting money into the auto industry. Barack Obama auto-industry industry want In the campaign back in 2007, 2008, people would say, "Oh, he's being naïve. He thinks that there's no red states and blue states. And wait 'til he gets here." And I will confess that, I didn't fully appreciate the ways in which individual senators or members of Congress now are pushed to the extremes by their voter bases. I did not expect, particularly in the midst of crisis, just how severe that partisanship would be. Barack Obama appreciate blue thinking I think the American people can change Washington. But I think that it is not going to change, because somebody from on high directs that change. Barack Obama people-can-change people thinking The framers, in their wisdom, designed the [political] system so that power's pretty disbursed. Barack Obama framers political-systems political [Two of the most unpopular presidential candidates selected by the two parties in history] indicates that there is a lot of cynicism out there. It indicates that the corrosive nature of everything from talk radio to fake news to negative advertising has made people lack confidence in a lot of our existing institutions. Barack Obama party two people [Donald Trump] is in the process of building up an organization. And well, we'll have to see how that works. And it'll be a test, I think, for him and the people that he's designated to be able to execute on his vision. Barack Obama building-up organization thinking I don't regret at all saying that if I saw Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons on his people that that would change my assessments in terms of what we were or were not willing to do in Syria. Barack Obama assessment regret people If 90 percent or 95 percent of those - chemical stockpiles [in Syria] were eliminated, that's a lot of chemical weapons that are not right now in the hands of ISIL or Nusra or, for that matter, the regime. Barack Obama isil weapons hands If you're saying that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu got fired up, he's been fired up repeatedly during the course of my presidency, around the Iran deal and around our consistent objection to settlements. Barack Obama ministers prime iran I'm not going to Wall Street [after the presidency]. The amount of time that I'll be investing in issues is going to be high. But it'll be necessarily in a different capacity. Barack Obama issues wall different There's some bittersweet feelings about leaving the people here [in the White House]. 'Cause even though all the team you assemble, you know, you're going to stay in touch with 'em, it's not the same, you know? The band kind of breaks up. Barack Obama team white people People'd be like, "Oh, spending taxpayer money." It's like, "No, no, I actually I'm paying for all of this. The only thing I don't pay for is Secret Service and an airplane." Barack Obama airplane secret people America ranks 21st when it comes to math education. We rank 25th when it comes to science. We used to be number one in the proportion of college graduates. We now rank ninth. And at an age where knowledge, skills, are the determinant of how successful we're going to be, unless we reverse that we're going to keep slipping behind economically to a lot of other countries. Barack Obama successful math country Germany, South Korea - these are all countries that are investing massively in education. We've got to do the same thing in America. Barack Obama korea country america