Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom.

I have never had to travel more than thirty seconds from home to office, and it's because of that that I've been able to maintain, really a family life that has nurtured and sustained me during this time [of presidency].

When I was in Washington, I would usually get home from the Capitol at about 7:30 or 8, and I would try to write as much as possible. It was almost all in the wee hours.

The size of your paycheck shouldn’t determine your child’s future.

That window is closing. . . . Now, the clock is ticking. . . . We're not going to have these talks just drag out in a stalling process. . . . We haven't given away anything - other than the opportunity for us to negotiate

Now suddenly you got members of your [White House] team who were 23, 24. They've met their wives here, or their husbands here.

We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old - and that's the criterion by which I'll be selecting my judges.