145 Quotes by Rahm Emanuel

They ended up spending a total, their campaign plus the independent, about 1.3 million. I only ended up spending about - not only, but I spent about 2 million. But I had no intention of doing that until I was attacked with a negative ad by an independent group.

For all the things that make Chicago great, for all the things that make us proud to call ourselves Chicagoans, the violence that is happening corrodes our core. It is not the Chicago we know and love.

What is more comforting to the terrorists around the world: the failure to pass the 9/11 legislation because we lacked a majority of the majority,' or putting aside partisan politics to enact tough new legislation with America's security foremost in mind?

I consider myself a progressive. I have a passion for people who work. To me, this is about forward looking versus backward looking. Ideological gradations are the wrong way to look at it.

I can't imagine being mayor and not having had the experience working for President Clinton or President Obama, or, for that matter, working in Congress. On the other hand, I think I would have been a better adviser had I been mayor first. If I had had this job first, I could have seen the implications of things I was doing.

Israel has a security concern involving geography. But geography does not have the same value it did in 1967.

To deal with what you have to deal with as mayor or president, there has to be an overriding psychological or professional or emotional gratification that would let you go through all the angst.

My attitude is govern as if you've run your last race. That's not to say I've run my last race, but govern with a liberation and a freedom; change your mind frame to operate that way.

I see city finances within the context of an economic strategy... We are going to solve our financial problems by growing the economy, and I have rejected some corners that have called for a slash-and-burn approach, and I've rejected others who have called for raising taxes and leaving government as is.