It's opportunity. It's opportunity not a check from government - it's opportunity that has always driven America and defined us as Americans.

The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.

I spent my whole life in the private sector 25 years in the private sector. I understand that when government takes more money out of the hands of people it makes it more difficult for them to buy things. If they can't buy things the economy doesn't grow. If the economy doesn't grow we don't put Americans to work.

When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues it has three choices: It can raise taxes print money or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians all three options are bad for average Americans.

How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.

Americans no longer look to government for economic security rather they look to their portfolios.

Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent hardworking honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then we elected them.

For most Americans Friday afternoons are filled with positive anticipation of the weekend. In Washington it's where government officials dump stories they want to bury. Good news gets dropped on Monday so bureaucrats can talk about it all week.

When good Americans die they go to Paris.

Gibson has been making the finest electric guitars the world has ever witnessed for over 70 years. They are as American as God guns and rock and roll.

The soles of Neil Armstrong's boots on the moon made permanent impressions on our souls and in our national psyche. Ann and I watched those steps together on her parent's sofa. Like all Americans we went to bed that night knowing we lived in the greatest country in the history of the world. God bless Neil Armstrong.

The real democratic American idea is not that every man shall be on a level with every other man but that every man shall have liberty to be what God made him without hindrance.

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.

And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation.

If we are to garner sustained U.S. domestic support for future trade agreements we have to make sure those Americans who have suffered as a consequence of past agreements have an effective social safety net adjustment assistance opportunities for retraining and new job creation that enables all Americans to thrive.

The United States is locked in a new arms race for that most precious resource - the future entrepreneurs upon whom economic growth depends. Substantial research shows that immigrants play a key role in American job creation.

I've been watching more American TV because of all the great TV series that have come out in the last five to 10 years. I'm a 'Sopranos' fan I'm a 'Wire' fan I'm a 'Mad Men' fan. I'm a 'Deadwood' fan. It makes me optimistic for the future of storytelling on TV that producers are willing to take that kind of jump.

Hollywood films have become a cesspool of formula and it's up to us to try to change it... I feel like a preacher! But it's really true. I feel personally responsible for the future of American cinema. Me personally.

As an American I wanted to explore... why are we the only first world country that still has capital punishment? Is it because we're too afraid to really examine the system or is it because we really truly believe that this is the best way to deter future crime?

I think it's very clear that the American people are frustrated with this move toward socialism. And so whether you're back or white if you believe that the conservative construct is in the best interest of our future than you too would be voting with Republicans and if you had the opportunity to run you'd join us as well.

Rather than waiting for future trials to determine rules that will impact every citizen Congress should step in and write a law that takes every American's rights into consideration.

What we're discussing privately and publicly is a budget which is a blueprint for the future which creates jobs which educates our children which provides healthcare for all Americans which takes our deficit down which gives a tax cut for 95% of the American people.

I honestly don't know but if America continues to refuse to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions I see a bleak future not only for American society but for the world as a whole. This is a global problem that is not going away and the United States is an obstacle to solving it.

While negativity is politically useful it is also demoralizing unless it is accompanied - and to some extent overshadowed - by elevated and inspiring ideas about the American future.