“You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag.”

“The best way to lose weight is to close your mouth - something very difficult for a politician. Or watch your food - just watch it, don't eat it.”

“Citizens, thank you for all your birthday wishes. I am 88 years old today and still lucky to live in the greatest city in the world.”

“I know many writers who first dictate passages, then polish what they have dictated. I speak, then I polish - occasionally I do windows.”

“If you don't like the President, it costs you 90 bucks to fly to Washington to picket. If you don't like the governor, it costs you 60 bucks to fly to Albany to picket. If you don't like me - 90 ce...”

“Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.”

“They had killed themselves over our dying forests, over manatees maimed by propellers as they surfaced to drink from garden hoses; they had killed themselves at the sight of used tires stacked high...”

“The world seemed to shimmer a little at the edges.”

“If we cannot accept the importance of the world, which considers itself important, if in the midst of that world our laughter finds no echo, we have but one choice: to take the world as a whole and...”

“Never trust an Italian. The Nazis did that, and look where it got them.”

“It is only when we are in the habit of recognizing our opinions as a partial experience seen through our stereotypes that we become truly tolerant of an opponent.”

“Attempting to get at truth means rejecting stereotypes and cliches.”

“Once you figure out who you are and what you love about yourself, I think it all kind of falls into place.”

“All seasons are spectacular.”

“When real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep on walking.”