It is a privilege to serve people, a privilege that must be earned, and once earned, there is an obligation to do something good with it.

The Supreme Court has always been the last bastion of the protection of our freedoms.

The stakes ... are too high for government to be a spectator sport.

If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If we as public officials propose, we must produce.

The arts are not a frill. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature, and help to shape our identity. What is there that can transcend deep difference and stubborn divisions? The arts. They have a wonderful universality. Art has the potential to unify. It can speak in many languages without a translator. The arts do not discriminate. The arts lift us up.

There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.

The arts, instead of quaking along the periphery of our policy concerns, must push boldly into the core of policy. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature and help to shape our identity. The arts are not a frill and should not be treated as such. They have the potential to become the driving force for healing division and divisiveness.