The Abridged Barack Obama

Barack Obama is a gifted orator. His speeches are thoughtful presentations that reference history and give hope for the future. They are also quite long. When giving a speech, Obama must overcome the audience's attention span, which can often be half as long as the actual speech. Therefore, distilling these speeches into abridged quotes often make them easier to digest without diluting their overall message. History has shown that the best quotes are the short ones, so here are some concise Barack Obama quotes that outline his stance on some key issues and just may, one day, make it into the history books.

On the Iraq War: "I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war." (October 2002)

On legislation: "A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, Huh. It works. It makes sense." (May 2004)

On American unity: "We coach little league in the blue states and have gay friends in the red states." (July 2004)

On slavery: "I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator." (June 2005)

On the War on Terror: "Either we protect our people from terror or we protect our most cherished principles." (December 2005)

On Lobbyists: "I can't think of a single reason in the world why we shouldn't be paying for our own lunches in Washington." (January 2006)

Poking fun at his name: "They'd call me Alabama, or they'd call me Yo Mama. And I would have to explain I got the name from my father, who was from Kenya." (May 2006)

On the value of empathy: "There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes." (June 2006)

On politics: "What Washington needs is adult supervision." (October 2006)

On his marijuana usage: "I inhaled, that was the point." (October 2006)

On the nature of politics: "Nowhere is it ordained that history moves in a straight line." (October 2006)

On partisanship: "And when some try to propose something bold, the interests groups and the partisans treat it like a sporting event, with each side keeping score of who's up and who's down." (January 2007)

On the deteriorating conditions in Iraq: "We're not going to baby-sit a civil war." (January 2007)

On democracy: "Our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate." (February 2007)

On patriotism: "For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it." (February 2007)

On race relations: "[The] most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning." (March 2008)

On foreign policy while dining in Scranton: "Why can't I just eat my waffle?" (April 2008)

On politics: "Instead of fighting to replace jobs that aren't coming back, Washington ends up fighting over the latest distraction of the week." (April 2008)

On the environment: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times." (May 2008)

On the need for new leadership: "On November 4^th, we must stand together and say eight is enough." (August 2008)

On a woman's right to choose: "No one is pro-abortion." (October 2008)

On modesty: "I was never the likeliest candidate for this office." (November 2008)

On American ideals: "In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned." (January 2009)