I accept that responsibility and ask only that I be judged by my performance as its chief executive.

Be assured that I did not become the Mayor of Chicago to preside over its decline.

If we are to succeed, we must recognize that the community redevelopment is not solely the rehabilitation of housing, or putting a mall in the business strips.

The Chicago Symphony is considered the greatest orchestra in the world.

Our universities and museums are respected around the country.

Politics never takes a holiday in Chicago.

But I am committed to keeping this city a strong and viable center for commerce and industry, for continuing to make it a place of opportunity for its citizens.

The nation can no longer afford to continue policies that hasten the flight of persons to the distant suburbs.

City employees will be hired and promoted because of their abilities - without outside interference.

Tonight - by taking this solemn oath - I am no longer a private citizen but the Mayor of the City of Chicago.

In the days and months I spent walking through the various communities of this city, I found that Chicago did not work for everyone, however.

It is the English, not their Government; for if they were not blind cowards, they would lynch Chamberlain and Halifax and all the other smarmy traitors.

Take care not to wear stripes that are out of sync with your wrinkles.

Life is too short for half-hearted connections and meaningless run-throughs.

If you can't worship at the back, you can't worship at the front

An apology for America's values is never the right course.

Lampoon was a very collegial operation, though "collegial" usually means "friendly" and it wasn't that friendly. But we were tight, like a family.

Perhaps punctuality is a quality made even more valuable because it is found in so few people. Punctuality is not usually thought of in our day as a major virtue.

Black chaos comes, and the fettered gods of the earth say, Let there be light.

What is my personal strategy for the next 10 hours? Who can I talk with or what can I volunteer for to learn something new?

Each person's life is a story that is telling itself in the living.