Barack Obama: “This battle that we're having about a budget right now, that's--it's not just about numbers.”

Your task is not to impose litmus tests.

This idea that any suggestion or criticism that America was anything other than perfect is unpatriotic... is a suggestion that you hate your country.

They're meant to remind us of who we can be, to remind us of what's possible, so we can forge ahead.

I think when you understand the complexities of America and the contradictions of America, I don’t think it makes you love it less. I think it makes you love it more.