The BBC is locked to the reading of the economy that is run out of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls’ office. They think if only you spend and borrow more money you can create growth everywhere.

Meaningful work, creative work, thoughtful work, important work – this type of effort takes stretches of uninterrupted time to get into the zone. But in the modern office such long stretches just can’t be found. Instead, it’s just one interruption after another.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations with politicians who’ve done something morally reprehensible but not indictable, yet still think they should be able to stay in office. The office isn’t a ‘right.’ It’s a kind of loan.

Take Hispanic voters. They favor Democrats because they like the party’s programs, from health care reform to government spending on education. It’s not because the Republicans don’t have a big enough Office of Hispanic Outreach.

I’ve never defined myself by the box office. I’ve always said I just want to be able to make movies, and if I can make a living at it, I’ll do that.

The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.

Our office corner has really become an area where the Tea party movement congregates and the rhetoric is really heated. Not just the calls but the e-mails, the slurs.

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

I have an office in Argentina, I go there every day, so I work.

I have an office in Argentina, I go there every day, so I work.

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.

I hereby resign this office of president of the United States.

I don’t like to see a president who is just out campaigning all year long or for the last four years. I’d like to see somebody who’s going in the office. In fact, I’d like to not see them because that way you’d be sure that they’d be working.

Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.

I also wish that the Pledge of Allegiance were directed at the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as it is when the President takes his oath of office, rather than to the flag and the nation

While I do not think it was so intended, I have always been of the opinion that this turned out to be much the best for me. I had no national experience. What I have ever been able to do has been the result of first learning how to do it. I am not gifted with intuition. I need not only hard work but experience to be ready to solve problems. The Presidents who have gone to Washington without first having held some national office have been at great disadvantage

We don’t let criminals serve in our office as president.

Virtue has its own reward, but no sale at the box office.

When I was young I felt really overwhelmed and confused by the desire not to end up in an office, doing something I didn’t believe in.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.