Ed Koch Quotes

The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.

I'm not the type to get ulcers. I give them.

The pure culture is the foundation for all research on infectious disease.

Embrace change. Envision what could be, challenge the status quo, and drive creative destruction.

I believe my business and non-profit investments are much more beneficial to societal well-being than sending more money to Washington.

There was always a love-hate relationship with New York in the rest of the country, but I made them feel more love than hate.

If they don't want to pay for it, they can stop drinking it.

Strive for excellence in few things, rather than good performance in many.

A truly free society is based on a vision of respect for people and what they value.

You aren't just the age you are. You are all the ages you ever have been!

You can be a good neighbor only if you have good neighbors.

Success is one of the worst enemies of success, because success tends to breed complacency and lack of humility.

You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag.

If we did realize the difference between the vital few and the trivial many in all aspects of our lives, and if we did something about it, we could multiply anything that we valued.

To do meaningful work is to contribute - to create value in society.

From my numerous observations, I conclude that these tubercle bacilli occur in all tuberculous disorders, and that they are distinguishable from all other microorganisms.

80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. A few things are important; most are not.

The few things that work fantastically well should be identified, cultivated, nurtured, and multiplied.

Hard work leads to low returns. Insight and doing what we want lead to high returns.

To get useful new ideas, we must go beyond our immediate circle and make contact with distant parts of the social system.

Our studies have shown that all cases of typhoid of this type have arisen by contact, that is, carried directly from one person to another. There was no trace of a connection to drinking water.

When everyone gets something for nothing, soon no one will have anything, because no one will be producing anything.

We must measure what leads to results, not simply what is easy to measure.

The only way you improve is to try new things.

If you never failed, then you're probably not doing very much.

The 80/20 principle - that 80 percent of result flow from just 20 per cent of the causes - is the one true principle of highly effective people.

What could you achieve that would make you proud, that no one else could do with the same ease?

If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.

But it [crony capitalism] erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding the politically favored rather than those who provide what consumers want.

A classical liberal is someone who wants a society that maximizes peace, civility, tolerance, and well-being for everyone. One that opens opportunities for everyone to advance themselves.

It is not shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways.

I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished.

I want my legacy to be greater freedom, greater prosperity and a better way of life for my family, our employees and all Americans. And I wish the same for every nation on earth.

I try to hire people who will challenge and have the humility to be challenged - people who have basically good values.

Celebrate exceptional productivity, rather than raise average efforts.

I said, to be a New Yorker you have to live here for six months, and if at the end of the six months you find you walk faster, talk faster, think faster, you're a New Yorker.

Manhattan is an accumulation of possible disasters that never happen.

The key is to work out the few things that are really important, and the few methods that will give us what we really want.

We tend to think of innovation as difficult, but with the creative use of The 80/20 Principle innovation can be both easy and fun!

As for political poetry, as it's usually defined, it seems there's very little good political poetry.

To end cronyism we must end government's ability to dole out favors and rig the market.

I'm a writer who likes to be influenced.

Most power is power to coerce somebody. We don't have the power to coerce anybody.

We are on dangerous terrain when government picks winners and losers in the economy by subsidizing favored products and industries.

If there is wrong, you don't say we have to get rid of it gradually. If injustice exists, you need to eliminate it immediately.

Use all the willpower at your disposal to make yourself happy. Construct the right stories about yourself - and believe them!

The easy way to make money is to get special political privilege. From the beginning of time, business has cozied up to government and gotten restrictions on competition and subsidies and stuff.

You don't have to love them. You just have to respect their rights.

Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.

When you start attacking cronyism and peoples political interests, it gets nasty.