"Mom spent the time that she was supposed to be a kid actully raising children, her younger brother and younger sister. She was tough as nails and did not suffer fools at all. And the truth was she could not afford to. She spoke the truth, bluntly, directly, and without much varnish. I am her son."

"One state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 towards his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits - a total of $3.8m on a $120,000 investment."

"Now, do I think there has to be shared sacrifice among other nations in the world who want a stable and secure world? Absolutely, there has to be. But I don't think that America can ever abdicate its leadership role in the world because of who we are and where we've come from. We are the symbol for the world for freedom and liberty."

"I don't compromise my principles for politics."

"Reason is the torch that illuminates the dark corridors of superstition. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The beauty of the unknown is that the mind is a garden where thoughts are the seeds."

"But reason always cuts a poor figure beside sentiment the one being essentially restricted, like everything that is positive, while the other is infinite."

"Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom."