All quotations taken from President Barack Obama’s 2nd
Inaugural Address, in sequential order
Josh Herring, compiler, 1/29/13
“…what binds this country together is not the colors of our
skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us
exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea,
articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago…”
“…we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning
of those words with the realities of our time.”
…”we have never relinquished out skepticism of central
authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be
cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise;
our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in
our character.”
“…when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our
founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving
our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”
…”we possess all the qualities that this world without
boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless
capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made
for this moment and we will seize it…”
“For we, the people, understand that our country cannot
succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.
We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the
broad shoulders of a rising middle class.
We know that America thrives when every person can find
independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate
families from the brink of hardship.
We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the
bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else,
because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes
of God but also in our own.”
“…our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination
of every single America…That is what will give real meaning to our creed.”
We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a
basic measure of security and dignity…But we reject the belief that America must
choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing
in the generation that will build its future…We do not believe that in this
country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few…The commitments
we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security –
these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us
a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country
great.”
“America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every
corner of the globe…for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its
most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the
Americas to the Middle East, because our conscience compel[s] us to act on
behalf of those who long for freedom.”
…”we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the
marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because
peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our
common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.”
“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of
truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still;
just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall;
just as it guided all those men and women sung and unsung, who left footprints
along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say we cannot walk alone; to hear a
King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom
of every soul on earth.”
“It is now our generation's task to carry on what those
pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers,
and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and
sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly
created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as
well.
Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to
wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.
Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to
welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of
opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our
workforce rather than expelled from our country.
Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the
streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown,
know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”
“That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these
rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness – real for
every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to
agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we all define liberty in the
exact same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness.”
“Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome
joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose,
with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into
an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.”
