MARIO CUOMO

The Catholic teaching against murder, for example, is largely the same as our secular laws. But as a law, it obviously has a secular rationale at least as strong as its religious rationale.

I have no plans, and no plans to plan.

I wish I were as good a man as my son is.

The biggest aggravation in the Arab world, the biggest reason for their anger toward us and the creation of those suicide terrorists, is Israel and the difficulty with the Palestinian issue.

Bill Clinton has done more to help the middle class than any leader in decades.

I'm not better than other politicians, but I'm different because I got into the game much later in life, after I had raised a family, after I had written a book, after I had been a successful lawyer. It's different when you get into this business after you've led a full life. I don't want to be a big man. I know who I am.

Debates are boring.

In 1984, I gave a speech at Notre Dame titled 'Religious Belief and Public Morality.' I said that Catholic legislators will live by the laws of the church because we want to stay in the club.

You want calamities? What about the Ice Age?

The Mafia is a question every time an Italian raises his head.

I think - something I learned recently looking up the meaning of ideology. If you look in American encyclopedias, it says, you know, 'Rules for - basic rules for a system of economics or politics.' If you look in the Oxford, it says that, and then it says... 'Despite - and people will hold these propositions despite events.'

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.

The price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that someday they might force their beliefs on us.

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.

The first good player I watched as a kid was Joe DiMaggio, and that was like ballet. Since then, I played sandlot and college ball and came to understand how difficult it can be.

The beauty of America is that I don't have to deny my past to affirm my present. No one does. We can love this nation like a parent and still embrace our ancestral home like cherished grandparents.

I don't ever recall having a political argument with Bob Grant. I've known him a long time. I've always liked him.

Hate sells.

I was badly mauled by people in New York State for being against the death penalty for 12 years.

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.

If you can manipulate news, a judge can manipulate the law. A smart lawyer can keep a killer out of jail, a smart accountant can keep a thief from paying taxes, a smart reporter could ruin your reputation- unfairly.

The Catholic Church did not always teach that life begins at conception.

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

Every time I've done something that doesn't feel right, it's ended up not being right.

David Robinson chose to stay at Navy. He talked about commitment, loyalty and values. I wonder how many of us would choose these virtues rather than the chance of becoming a millionaire, especially if you were a college sophomore when you had to make that choice.