“I respect the state workers and I respect their unions, but we simply can’t afford to pay benefits and pensions that are out of line with economic reality.”

I think there’s a lot to learn from Rockefeller on how to pass legislation.

I believe global warming and climate change are real threats to our planet.

New York State is upside down and backwards; high taxes and low performance.

I was elected to come to an incredibly dysfunctional capital and make the government work better, and that’s what I’m doing.

Politicians are good listeners. Because if they’re not, they aren’t politicians for very long.

I haven’t lost my head yet.

I am fiscally prudent and socially progressive. I believe in protecting a woman’s right to choose. I believe in marriage equality.

I don’t think anyone would argue with the notion that there have been serious abuses on Wall Street.

People are rightfully upset about Wall Street abuses and excess.

I know how bad Albany is. I know it better than most. I understand why people are angry. I’m angry. The question is going to be, how do you change Albany, what is the plan for change, and then how do you actually get it done?

If I’m breathing in 2016, I’ll be happy.

I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.

The essential job of government is to facilitate, not frustrate, job development.

A governor can be a very good friend to people. A governor can be a formidable force.

I’ve worked on the urban agenda all my life. All. My. Life.

There is energy and power in a crisis.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Ronald Reagan was by far the greatest. Because he had real principles and he stuck by them. He made clear what he was going to do, and he did it. He didn’t back down.

There are more fake guides, teachers in the world than stars. The real guide is the one who makes you see your inner beauty, not the one who wants to be admired and followed.

The real tragedy of minimum wage laws is that they are supported by well-meaning groups who want to reduce poverty. But the people who are hurt most by higher minimums are the most poverty stricken.

A minimum-wage law is, in reality, a law that makes it illegal for an employer to hire a person with limited skills.

Things are neither clear nor clean in the world of football right now and many people recognise this reality.

We need marriage equality in every state in this nation. Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality.

If you did not write every day, the poisons would accumulate and you would begin to die, or act crazy or both-you must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

Anyone who says there is not a change in weather patterns is denying reality.