One thing my family has shown me is that having a sense of humor is everything.
The nation can no longer afford to continue policies that hasten the flight of persons to the distant suburbs.
The cooperation of government at its different levels is important and can only be achieved as long as the people of Chicago are directly involved in our efforts and supportive of our goals.
Be assured that I did not become the Mayor of Chicago to preside over its decline.
The people ask much, often more than any government can give. We must resist the temptation to promise solutions to all problems.
Politics never takes a holiday in Chicago.
Tonight - by taking this solemn oath - I am no longer a private citizen but the Mayor of the City of Chicago.
You can't know what it is like for us now--you will always be one step behind. Be thankful for that. You can't know what it was like for us then--you will always be one step ahead. Be thankful for that, too.
Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice. Not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God. I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.
Hands make the world each day.