Barack Obama Top Quotes: 15 Sayings From Final Press Conference, President's Last Words To Nation

President Barack Obama spoke Wednesday at his final press conference at the White House, two days before President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Before taking questions, he offered his best wishes to former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, both of whom were hospitalized Wednesday. He then thanked reporters for sticking with him through the good and bad of his administration and opened the floor for questions.

Obama is the 44th president and first African-American president of the United States. International Business Times gathered some of the most memorable quotes said by the president during the historic event.

On the press.

"Having you in this building has made us better. It makes us work harder. It makes us more honest."

On nuclear policy.

"Part of the reason we've been able to be so successful on our nuclear agenda, on our non-proliferation agenda, was because we were leading by example."

On his discussions with Trump.

"I have offered my best advice, my best counsel about certain issues both foreign and domestic and my working assumption is having won an election opposed to a number of my initiatives and certain aspects for where the country has to go, it is appropriate for him to go forward with his visions and his values. I don't suspect there is going to be enormous overlap."

On his immediate future plans.

"I want to make sure that my wife, with whom I will be celebrating a 25th anniversary this year, is willing to reup and put up with me for a little bit longer. I want to do some writing, be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. I wanna spend precious time with my girls. So those are my priorities this year, but as I said before I am still a citizen."

On future plans to speak out in politics

"I think it's important for Democrats, for progressives, who feel they came out on the wrong side of this election, to be able to distinguish between the normal ebb and flow of policy... there's a difference between that normal function of politics and certain issues to certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake."

On opening relations with Havana and the Castro government.

"We underwent a monumental shift in our policy toward Cuba. My view was after 50 years of a policy not working, it made sense for us to reopen diplomatic relations."

On Israel's rejection of the two-state solution.

"I don't see how this issue gets resolved in a way that maintains Israel as both Jewish and a democracy because if you do not have two states then in some form or fashion you are extending an occupation, functionally you end up having one state in which million of people are disenfranchised and operate as second class occupants, you can't even call them citizens."

On the Trump's foreign policy plans.

"The actions we take have consequences and ramifications. We're the biggest kid on the block. I think it is right and appropriate for a new president to test old assumptions, to reexamine the old ways of doing things. but if you're going to make big shifts in policy, just make sure you thought it through.

On his LGBTQ rights legacy.

"I could not be prouder of the transformation that has taken place in our society just in the last decade and I've said before I think we made some useful contributions to it, but the primary heroes in this stage of our growth as a democracy and a society are all the individual activists and sons and daughters and couples who courageously said, 'This is who I am and I'm proud of it,' and that opened people's minds and hearts, and eventually laws caught up."

On commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence.

"Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence."

"Given that she faced trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received, and that she had served a significant amount of time. It made sense to commute, and not pardon, her sentence."

On diversity in the U.S.

"I think we're gonna see people rise up from every race, faith, corner of this country because that's America's strength. When we have everyone getting a chance on the field, we're better."

On inequality in the U.S.

"I worry about inequality because I think that if we are not investing in making sure everybody plays a role in this economy, then the economy will not grow as fast and that it will lead to further and further separation between us as Americans, and I don't just mean along racial lines. There are millions of Americans who voted for the president-elect because they feel disenfranchised."

On lobbying.

"We are going to have to reexamine the endless flow of money that goes into our politics."

On his daughters.

"Me and my daughters are something and they just surprise and enchant and impress me more and more every single day as they grow up and so these days when we talk, we talk as parent to child, but also we learn from them."

On the future of the country.

"I believe in this country, I believe in the American people, I believe there are more good people than bad. At my core, I think we're gonna be okay. We just have to fight for it. We have to work for it and not take it for granted."