>>> ' Hello '.strip()
'Hello'
>>> ' Hello'.strip()
'Hello'
>>> 'Bob has a cat'.strip()
'Bob has a cat'
>>> '          Hello        '.strip()  # ALL spaces at ends removed
'Hello'

def strip_one_space(s):
    if s.endswith(" "): s = s[:-1]
    if s.startswith(" "): s = s[1:]
    return s

>>> strip_one_space("   Hello ")
'  Hello'

>>> "  Hellon".strip(" ")
'Hellon'

myString.strip()

myString.strip()

myphrases = [ " Hello ", " Hello", "Hello ", "Bob has a cat" ]

for phrase in myphrases:
    print phrase.strip()