One great thing about being a black man is that if you put on a hat, you can move around unnoticed.

I’m planning to stay in politics now, but, you know, George Burns worked until he was 100. I don’t know. I don’t want to be a Senator until I’m honored.

For too long, Democrats have been telling people what they want to hear. I'm going to tell you what I believe.

I think that hope, that ability to envision, to imagine a better way, and then to apply yourself to it, is the way to climb out of a hole, is the way to build a better life, is the way to build a better community and a better country.

It's a free country. I wish it weren't.

Governor is the only office I've ever run for, and I did so in the first place because I felt that there was a contribution I could make right now in governing for the long term and by leading by values. I ran for a second term to finish the work we started. I'll finish this out and return to the private sector, which I enjoy and miss in some ways.

If you are ever going to move beyond where you stand at that moment you have to conjure a picture in your head of where you want to go.