I'm a harsh critic of the status quo.

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 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 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.

To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons.

I think capital punishment works great. Every killer you kill never kills again.

If the wind rises it can push us against the flood when it comes.

When I was a nurse I never had much money, and I was still happy then.

I'm not a drug person. I don't like drugs. I went to college in London, so it was kind of the curriculum there. I got it out of my system really young.

And learn the luxury of doing good.

When it don’t rain, the roof don’t leak; when it rains, I can’t fix it nohow.

An unexamined life is a life of no account.

I like thieves. Some of my best friends are thieves. Why, just last week we had the president of the bank over for dinner.

A moral, sensible, and well-bred manWill not affront me, and no other can.