New York [cannot] remain the center of commerce and capital for this continent, unless it has an independent bar and an honest judiciary.

My favorite thought about Abraham Lincoln is he believed in two things: loving one another and working together to make this world better.

But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.

No one in the modern history of this country, no president, has done more to move toward a balanced budget than has President Bill Clinton.

Barack Obama is probably one of the brightest in terms of sheer intelligence... also probably the best orator we've ever had as a president.

We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them, and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.

When we deal with questions relating to principles of law and their applications, we do not suddenly rise into a stratosphere of icy certainty.

There is a respectable body of economic thought that holds that casino gambling is actually economically regressive to a state and a community.

When I left, there were over 1 million fewer people on welfare in New York state than when I took office, replacing dependency with opportunity.

There are few things more amusing in the world of politics than watching moderate Republicans charging to the right in pursuit of greater glory.

In 1980, in 1984, millions of middle-class Democrats became Reagan Democrats, and more of them drifted toward the Republicans with Bush in 1988.

No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a hard Christmas.

The truth is that beginning in the 1970s, the heart of our Democratic party, America's strong striving middle class, began drifting away from us.

In '86 or '87, the welfare lists were at the lowest level in 17 years. Why? Because the economy was the best it was in 17 years. There were jobs.

No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace, is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a hard Christmas.

The closed circle of materialism is clear to us now - aspirations become wants, wants become needs, and self-gratification becomes a bottomless pit.

We are one America. If we work together across party lines, there's no problem we can't solve and the 21st century will be America's greatest century.

I love bunt plays. I love the idea of the bunt. I love the idea of the sacrifice. Even the word is good. Giving yourself up for the good of the whole.

We know that when people are safe in their homes, they are free to pursue their dream for a brighter economic future for themselves and their families.

You know, there are some areas of the state that are providing enormous help to their students; there are others where they're not doing what they can.

I told them that my grandfather had died in the Great Crash of 1929 - a stockbroker jumped out of a window and crushed him and his pushcart down below.

I did once answer the question 'What would you say on your tombstone?' I know what I would say: 'Mario Cuomo, 1932 - dash,' and, 'He tried.' That's it.

It is a confession of the weakness of our own faith in the righteousness of our cause when we attempt to suppress by law those who do not agree with us.

I believe in an evolving Constitution. A flexible Constitution leaves room for us to consider not merely how the world once was, but how it ought to be.

We need a President that all Americans can respect, not a celebrity who uses words like freedom and liberty like they are a punchline in a reality show.

You will not be able to tell that they are capable of greatness until you provide them with a packed house, a 3-and-2 count and the game is on the line.

We will emerge stronger as a diverse community; the area will be rebuilt with life around the clock, new buildings, restaurants, places of entertainment.

The mugger who is arrested is back on the street before the police officer, but the person mugged may not be back on the street for a long time, if ever.

The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind.

Publicity is a great purifier because it sets in action the forces of public opinion, and in this country public opinion controls the courses of the nation

Way down deep the American people are afraid of an entangling relationship between formal religions - or whole bodies of religious belief - and government.

Be simple in words, manners, and gestures. Amuse as well as instruct. If you can make a man laugh, you can make him think and make him like and believe you.

Publicity is a great purifier because it sets in action the forces of public opinion, and in this country public opinion controls the courses of the nation.

The American people need no course in philosophy or political science or church history to know that God should not be made into a celestial party chairman.

The American people need no course in philosophy or political science of church history to know that God should not be made into a celestial party chairman.

Whatever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it. For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue and direct it incessantly.

I have tremendous admiration for everyone who enters the political arena so long as their goal is to do what they believe is right for the people of New York.

I'm very proud of what we've done with the State University and the City University. They're totally different institutions than they were when I took office.

I submit, on the other hand, most respectfully, that the Constitution not merely does not affirm that principle, but, on the contrary, altogether excludes it.

I don't have any particular expertise-I've never been a banker or an investment banker. But I did see an evolution in the system that I thought was problematic.

We believe in a government strong enough to use words like "love" and "compassion" and smart enough to convert our noblest aspirations into practical realities.

We became convinced that, regardless of Stalin's awful brutality and his reign of terror, he was a great war leader. Without Stalin, they never would have held.

I think Stalin was afraid of Roosevelt. Whenever Roosevelt spoke, he sort of watched him with a certain awe. He was afraid of Roosevelt's influence in the world.

Health care reform, the marquee legislative accomplishment of the Obama administration's first term, was passed before we entered the world of divided government.

We are going through tough economic times but things are looking up, and the indicators are improving not only for large corporations but also for small business.

For the first time federal, state and local bureaus of investigation are coordinating their effort, to serve as eyes and ears and protect us against further attacks.

Much of the aid we first gave to Russia we took away from what we promised Britain. So in a sense, Britain participated in a very real way in the recovery of Russia.

Outrage is easy, cheap, and oversold. The nation needs less anger and more thoughtful reflection, less shouting and more listening, less dissembling and more honesty.

The United States are a political state, or organized society, whose end is government, for the security, welfare, and happiness of all who live under its protection.

People like Pete Peterson, the former secretary of commerce and Blackstone and titan of Wall Street, etc., has been writing books for years about the debt and deficit.

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