Barack Obama turns 58: Five quotes that make him loved

Former US president Barack Obama celebrated his 58th birthday on Sunday.

Described by many as a beacon of hope, America's first black president served as the US's 44th for eight years.

Equality, toxic masculinity, freedom and racism are some of key societal issues he continues to speak out about.

Here are five quotes that make Obama loved.

Toxic masculinity

"I think all of us have to recognise that being a man is, first and foremost, being a good human, and that means being responsible, being reliable, working hard, being kind, being respectful, being compassionate. The notion that, somehow, defining yourself as a man is dependant on being able to bring somebody down instead of bringing them up, are you able to dominate as opposed to support? That is an old view." – February 2019

Freedom, unity

"Freedom is more powerful than fear. We have always met challenges, whether it's war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks. By coming together around our common ideals as one nation and one people, so long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt that America will prevail." – December 2015

Racial divide in America

"There is not a black America, white America, Latino America, an Asian America, there is the United States of America. They like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states, but I've got news for them, too; we worship an awesome God in the blue state and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We are one people." – July 2004

The right choice

"America is at a cross-roads right now. There is a contest of ideas going on right now about who we are and what kind of country we are going to be. Historically we have made the right choice, chosen our better selves. Sometimes, it's taken longer than it should have, but eventually we abolished slavery." – November 2018

LGBTQI+ rights

"We have an obligation to make sure that gays and lesbians have the rights of citizenship that afford them visitations to hospitals, that allow them to transfer property to each other, to make sure they are not discriminated against on the job." – October 2004