"From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much - the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me."

"Don't reward bad behavior. It is one of the first rules of parenting. During the financial cataclysm of 2008, we said it differently. When we bailed out banks that had created their own misfortune, we called it a 'moral hazard,' because the bailout absolved the bank's bad acts and created an incentive for it to make the same bad loans again."

"I have long said there are three distinct groups under the GOP's tent: theological warriors, who want to impose their social views on the rest of society Tea Party zealots, who say with a straight face that they want the government to get out of their Medicare and remnants of the pro-business moderates."

"A year is an eternity in politics - though less than a moment in history."

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

"Politics and war are remarkably similar situations."

"Fortitude is the quiet voice at eventide saying: I will try once more tomorrow. For where clarity resides, peace inevitably follows — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it... You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week."