President Barack Obama said goodbye to the nation with an inspiring and emotional farewell speech last night in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

With tears and laughs, Obama recalled his eight years running the country — boasting of reducing unemployment, reversing a recession and winning marriage equality. He highlighted his accomplishments and recalled his groundbreaking 2008 presidential campaign.

The 44th president of the United States encouraged the audience to embrace inclusiveness, to listen to the opinions of others and to be wary of threats of racism to our democracy. He expressed his hope for America’s young people, and he called upon the people to relieve racial tensions — “hearts must change,” he said. No matter what the future holds, he encouraged us to stick together to improve the nation. Because in the end, “We rise or fall all as one.”

A teary Obama thanked his wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia and Vice President Joe Biden.

Here are some of Obama’s most inspiring quotes from his eight years in office.

On sticking together

“Democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity — the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.”

On respecting others

“Each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around…