When I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether he is swelling or growing.

Every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells, and when I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether he is growing or swelling.

The method of political science is the interpretation of life; its instrument is insight, a nice understanding of subtle, unformulated conditions.

I will not speak with disrespect of the Republican Party. I always speak with respect of the past.

When I came into politics, I remember reading these scorecards of my performance, and I would routinely have these comments about not being assertive enough.

In the barbershop, there's democracy. You're a professor; you're an engineer; you're a garbage man, have at it. You got something to say, get down with it.

Profits should be for a purpose. Profits should be productive. You should make money for producing benefits that make the world a better place. Making money is a good thing when it is made in service to humanity or the democracy.

Harlem for me is Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C., in one place. You have very significant churches that have had national ramifications. At the same time, you have politics. On top of all that, you have entertainment because you have 70 years of music that came out of here, and if you scratch that, gangsterism happens.