When you’re around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you’re supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.

Where I grew up – I grew up on the north side of Akron, lived in the projects. So those scared and lonely nights – that’s every night. You hear a lot of police sirens, you hear a lot of gunfire. Things that you don’t want your kids to hear growing up.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy.

I don’t want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision.

If I had chosen the populist course, it would have been a breach of the trust placed in me by the people.

Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth.

To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

Creativity is the key to success in the future, and primary education is where teachers can bring creativity in children at that level.

The loss of a child is my greatest nightmare.

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

I don’t know what’s the matter with people: they don’t learn by understanding; they learn by some other way – by rote, or something. Their knowledge is so fragile!

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

My faith helps me understand that circumstances don’t dictate my happiness, my inner peace.

It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible.

I wish every American had an opportunity to sit down, to go to a base, to meet with families, to meet with service members, to sit down with our veterans – because we would think differently about our challenges as individuals.

People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I earned everything I’ve got.

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.

Most businesses think that product is the most important thing, but without great leadership, mission and a team that deliver results at a high level, even the best product won’t make a company successful.

I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone – and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You’re trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren’t very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

Those who commit injustice bear the greatest burden.

No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

To remain a credible leader, I must always work first, hardest, and longest on changing myself. This is neither easy nor natural, but it is essential.

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.

No parent is perfect; we all can look back and think of things we could’ve done to help our children be better prepared for adulthood. And sometimes it’s best to admit it to them and encourage them to learn from our mistakes.

I always joke that my kids‘ favorite holiday is Father’s Day. They love the way I celebrate the occasion by writing each of them a thank-you letter and a generous check. It’s my way of letting them know how much I appreciate the great pleasure and privilege of being their dad.

The malaria parasite has been killing children and sapping the strength of whole populations for tens of thousands of years. It is impossible to calculate the harm malaria has done to the world.

I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters – two beautiful, intelligent black young women – playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.

Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.

I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our Founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

I break ground. I trailblaze.

Power is the measure of the degree of control you have over circumstances in your life and the actions of the people around you. It is a skill that is developed by a deep understanding of human nature, of what truly motivates people, and of the manipulations necessary for advancement and protection.

Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings?

Whenever you’re going through a tough time, generally, you become more compassionate, you become softer, you become more thoughtful, kinder. These are all spiritual qualities that will help you to align yourself with God and God consciousness rather than with a split fear-based consciousness.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

I guess that’s one of the things about growing up in the fifties – it never occurred to me that you wouldn’t be at least as successful as your parents.

Treat your children like the blessings they are or don’t have them at all.

I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.

As a father, I always want my son to be perfect. When he was young, I tried to train him in martial arts, but he said, ‚I don’t want to become like Bruce Lee’s son, with everybody telling me how good my father was.‘ I just think my son is too lazy.

I hope my own children never have to fight a war.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, ‚I really like your tie.‘

Don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.

In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs forever and ever.

Too many people treat parenting like it’s the 20th item on their to-do list.

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R & D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R & D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.

A lot of people have a sense-of-entitlement mentality that somebody else ought to do these things for them. People are mad at the government for not getting jobs for them. I don’t understand why it’s the government’s responsibility.

Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.

My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that’s where a lot of preachers‘ kids get off base sometimes. Because they don’t see the same things at both places.

If you can’t read, the only thing you can do is enjoy the pictures, not the whole story. Reading is the key to knowledge. Knowledge is the key to understanding. So read on, young man! Read on, young lady!

I think if someone gets kicked in the face it is their fault – they watched the foot come towards their face.

He didn’t come out of my belly, but my God, I’ve made his bones, because I’ve attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.

The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.

The unjustifiable severity of a parent is loaded with this aggravation, that those whom he injures are always in his sight.

Real magic in relationships means an absence of judgment of others.

See, people are watching you. Especially your children. They’re taking in every single thing you do. They are like video cameras with legs. And they are always in the record mode. They learn more from what you do than from what you say.

I don’t want to get into it, but if you know someone, it doesn’t mean you agree with everything they say or they do.