I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.

I believe public education is the new civil rights battle and I support charter schools.

There was never a war on poverty. Maybe there was a skirmish on poverty

As my Sicilian grandfather used to say, you get more flies with honey than with vinegar, right?

I believe women still face a glass ceiling that must be shattered.

I am against the death penalty.

The time has come to return integrity, performance and dignity to New York and make it the Empire State once again.

The essential job of government is to facilitate, not frustrate, job development

People go into politics because they want the affirmation, and they want the applause.

I respect the state workers and I respect their unions, but we simply can't afford to pay benefits and pensions that are out of line with economic reality.

I am fiscally prudent and socially progressive. I believe in protecting a woman's right to choose. I believe in marriage equality.

Killing of an innocent, alike killing of humanity.

I suppose that means you don’t want any band-aids, either, ” I said, a touch more bitterly than I’d meant to.

If you escape from a necessary fight, pray you will live long enough to wait for and deal with the same challenge that must be settled.

What is right may properly be uttered even twice.

There is one excuse for every mistake a man can make, but only one. When a fellow makes the same mistake twice he's got to throw up both hands and own up to carelessness or cussedness.

I always have the TV on. When there's no TV, I play music. I like having noise. I think that's why New York is so suitable for me, because it's never really fully quiet.

Something about her eyes or voice has always suggested the hint of a free spirit, trapped in a Peck and Peck cage, dreaming of making rude noises at public gatherings of Republicans.

My philosophy is the same as a Samurai: To hit without getting hit.

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.

One of the great healing balms of the Holy Spirit is forgiveness. To forgive is to break the link between you and your past.