A governor can be a very good friend to people. A governor can be a formidable force.

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.

Lesson from Pataki's success is: Use the political moment.

I have a portrait of Saint Thomas More in my office.

Politicians are good listeners. Because if they're not, they aren't politicians for very long.

Fight as hard as you can, and then understand there's going to have to be some amount of reasonable compromise.

I'm in politics. I'm in government, so nothing surprises me