Ultimately, I remain optimistic about not just America's future, but the direction that the world is growing.

Even if the criticism is not always perfectly informed and in some cases I would deem unfair, just the noise, attention, fuss probably keeps powerful officials or agencies on their toes. And they should be on their toes when it comes to the use of deadly force.

My task over the last two years hasn't just been to stop the bleeding. My task has also been to try to figure out how do we address some of the structural problems in the economy that have prevented more Googles from being created.

I think that at a certain stage those early ambitions burn away, partly because you achieve something, you get something done, you get some notoriety. And then the particularities of who you are and what your deepest commitments are begin expressing themselves. You're not just chasing the idea of "me" being important, but you, rather, are chasing a particular passion.

I think [ chief organizer of the Democratic Party ] it's something that I have an interest in.

I just want to say that the only thing less popular than putting money into banks is putting money into the auto industry.

When times get tough, we don't give up. We get up.