“When times get tough, we don't give up. We get up.”
— Barack Hussein Obama II · 1961 –Source: Remarks by the President on the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, January 15, 2014 · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence appears in President Obama’s remarks at NC State on January 15, 2014, and was posted the same day on his official social-media account.
Understanding the quote
A compact call to collective resilience: Obama used this line to argue that economic setbacks demand organized response, not surrender. He spoke it while unveiling a plan to link universities, industry and government to revive manufacturing and jobs.
The story behind it
The punchy two-sentence form spread fast because Obama’s official social post preserved the exact aphorism the same day as the speech.
Going further
- The era
- In 2014, when U.S. manufacturing faced global competition and communities were losing jobs.
- The thinking
- A pragmatic civic message: meet real problems by organizing collective effort—invest, innovate, and rebuild rather than withdraw.
- Key word
- Resilience: the ability of people and institutions to recover and act after setbacks.
- Who quoted it
- Widely shared on social media and later collected in quotation compilations and political briefings.
Three challenges to live it
In the app, you pick the one that fits your day, and in the evening you say how it went.
Take a 15-minute walk now to a visible local spot (square, school, factory) and note three observations that show the community getting back on its feet.
Getting up and walking mirrors collective resilience; observing a local site connects you to the concrete recovery Obama describes.
Spend 30 minutes listing three local institutions (a university, a company, a civic body) and draft a concise message proposing an initial joint action.
The quote emphasizes linking universities, industry and government; planning a first outreach turns that vision into a practical step to rebuild capacity and jobs.
Host a 20-minute conversation today with 2–3 people (neighbors, colleagues, students) to identify one local action you can realistically do this month.
The quote calls for collective resolve; pooling ideas and agreeing on a near-term action turns determination into shared, practical steps.
How can your group respond together the next time you face a big setback?
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