Don't tell me that my parents didn't build their business.

I've never been a planner. I didn't know I was going to run for the State House. I didn't know I was going to run for governor. I don't know what's next, and I love not thinking about it because the doors open at a certain time.

I don't think we should focus on what church that person walks into .. I think we need to focus on what they do when they walk out of church.

The public likes to think that women only care about contraception.

I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country...We don't have unions in South Carolina because we don't need unions in South Carolina...And we'll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome.

I was never that kid that wanted to be in politics. What happened was, I graduated with a degree in accounting. I came back home to the family business. I saw how hard it was to make a ­dollar, and how easy it was for the government to take it. And my mom said, "Quit complaining about it. Do something about it."

Almost forty-five years after my parents first became Americans, I stand before you and them tonight as the proud governor of the state of South Carolina.