Thread by @ajplus

"In a government of and by and for the people, there should be no permanent ruling class. There are only citizens."

— Barack Obama while accepting the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"When you hear about how great the economy is doing, let's just remember when this recovery started." — Barack Obama today at the University of Illinois.

"It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause … He is just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years."
— Barack Obama

"This is not normal. These are extraordinary times. And they’re dangerous times."

— Barack Obama delivered his first major public critique of the Trump administration at the University of Illinois.

"We are Americans ... we're supposed to stand up to discrimination and we're sure as heck supposed to stand up clearly and unequivocally to Nazi sympathizers. How hard can that be? Say that Nazis are bad."
— Barack Obama

"Do not let people tell you the fight's not worth it because you won’t get everything you want ... That makes no sense. You can make it better. Better is always worth fighting for."
— Barack Obama

"We need more women in charge."

— Barack Obama

"The threat to our democracy doesn’t just come from Donald Trump … the biggest threat to our democracy is indifference. The biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism."
— Barack Obama

"Part of the reason women are more vulnerable in the workplace is because there aren’t enough women who are bosses in the workplace."
— Barack Obama

Barack Obama ended his speech at the University of Illinois with a message to young voters: "There are now more eligible voters in your generation than any generation ever ... but to exercise that power, you have to show up."