'Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens...'

'Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward'

'For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing'

'The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob'

'But we have always understood that when times change, so must we'

'My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together'

'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'

'We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few'

'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 all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim
that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth'

'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'

'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'

'Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation's first lady'

'But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the life-long appreciation
of a grateful president'

'You'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift'

'That won't change after tonight, and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty'

'This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong'

'What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth'

'I've seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them
watching their back'

'I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That's who we are. That's the country I'm so proud to lead as your president'

'I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or
where you love'

'It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in
America if you're willing to try'

'We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the
United States of America'

'Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States'