"And so our goal on health care is, if we can get, instead of health care costs going up 6 percent a year, it's going up at the level of inflation, maybe just slightly above inflation, we've made huge progress. And by the way, that is the single most important thing we could do in terms of reducing our deficit. That's why we did it."

"Humility is not weakness in leadership; it is the cornerstone of unassailable respect. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"I think there are a whole host of things that are civil rights, and then there are other things - such as traditional marriage - that, I think, express a community's concern and regard for a particular institution."

"I'm no longer just a candidate. I'm the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn't return. I've shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who've lost their jobs."

"I just kind of wake up with a new idea and new dreams every day, and I follow that dream, as they say."

"When I became leader, I made very clear I was not going to choose the easy life. I have always taken risks. I don't like comfort-zone politics."

"Let thoughts come and go like clouds across an undisturbed autumn sky. Let this simple maxim guide your daily deeds."

"A leader does not command the wind, but sets the sails and steadies the crew. Let this simple maxim guide your daily deeds."