I've always thought if we don't want to enforce laws on the books, we should remove them from the books. But when you have laws, you breed contempt if you don't enforce them.

America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it who did.

My father, a bookkeeper who never earned more than $11,000 a year in his life, sat there, writing out a $25 check to the NAACP. When I asked him why, he said discrimination against anyone is discrimination against us all. And I never forgot that. Indeed, his philanthropy was a gift, not just to that organization, but to me.

Progress is not inevitable. It's up to us to create it.

We cannot continue. Our pension costs and health care costs for our employees are going to bankrupt this city.

In the game of life, when the final buzzer sounds, the only stat you carry with you is the number of assists you made.

Look at all of the great strengths of America: entrepreneurialship, work ethic, natural resources, a democracy, a transparency, a willingness to be critical. Around the world, they look at us, and they say, "Why are you criticizing yourself? Why are you people arguing during the political process to elect a president or somebody else?" That's the great strength of this country.