21 Quotes by President Obama while visiting Costa Rica

This week I have for you 21 assorted quotes by United States President Barack Obama. Though I always find his thinking and speech brilliant and unassuming, these are of particular significance as they were made in different forums during a recent visit of his to my home-country of Costa Rica. 

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#1: This is my first visit to Costa Rica. And even though it is a brief one, I can already tell the incredible spirit of the people, the natural beauty of the country. 

#2: I’m here because Costa Rica is a great partner not just regionally, but globally.

#3: I've already been scouting out where I'm going to stay when I come back here for vacation.

#4: I just want to emphasize it’s not just building the road or the bridge or the port. It’s also having the regulatory structures that make those work.

#5: All the science shows that effective, high-quality early childhood education pays more dividends than almost anything else you can do, educationally. 

#6: Good-quality early childhood education is not just baby-sitting. 

#7: Now, whether we're going to be able to get that passed or not, I don't know. [About a bill he is sending to the Senate to improve early childhood education by taxing cigarettes.]

#8: That's a huge structural disadvantage for businesses and families in the region. So this is something you're going to have to fix. [About electricity prices as commented by Central America presidents.]

#9: I think every parent has aspirations for their children to do even better than they did. And the only way that's going to happen is, is if they’re getting an excellent education.

#10: As is true for businesses, it’s also true for governments, you have to prioritize, and you have to decide. [Emphasizing that if you put money on something, either you earn more by creating taxes or you take the money away from something else.]

#11: A lot of studies have shown that the single best indicator of a country’s development and advancement is how does it treat its girls.

#12: The advantage of when you're giving a good education to girls is you're also going to be educating the children of the moms. 

#13: Find ways that we can make sure that we're encouraging young women are getting the exact same opportunities as young men are getting

#14: If you are doing well, we will do better. And if we’re doing well, we think your situation improves. 

#15: This visit has made me extraordinarily optimistic about not just the future of the United States and the future of Central America, but the entire hemisphere. 

#16: It’s not as if we don't have tragic drug problems throughout the United States. 

#17: So I just wanted to make sure that my omission there did not turn into a story. [To a journalist after omitting an answer to one of several clauses in a single question.]

#18: We know that trade and investment flows to areas where there are strong public institutions, where there’s accountability and transparency and effective governance.

#19: In this knowledge-based economy, if we don't have the best workers in the world, the most highly skilled and trained workers in the world, then we’re going to lose.

#20: I’m looking forward to a good discussion. [Before joining talks of the Centro-american Integration System as an observer.]

#21: I don't want every story to be about drug traffickers and nobody is writing a story about those four young people and what they represent in terms of the future of Costa Rica and the future of this region. [About 4 students introduced by former astronaut Dr. Franklin Chang which were granted scholarships to US universities next fall.]