As you travel through the Middle East what keeps on striking home to me is how similar everyone is, and yet the degree to which we can find differences to fight wars over. It requires a great deal of empathy, I think, between various sides to overcome this history and live in peace.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.

In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can't afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.

The truth is, some of these comments, when you actually ask 'well, this is based on what? This notion that Obama's a socialist, for example?' Nobody can really give you a good answer.

If you've got a business - you didn't build that.

I try never to get too high when things are going well. I try never to get too low when things are going poorly. I try to keep an even keel.

If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.