Top 113 Quotes & Sayings by Julian Castro - Page 2

Oh, when I was mayor of San Antonio, I pushed for expanding high-quality, full-day pre-K. We didn't have the resources to make it universal, but you could clearly see that that was what I wanted to do.

You know, I'm speaking for myself. I didn't like to have to speak filtering for what I thought somebody else would or wouldn't want me to say.

I am going out there working hard every day making sure people know that my vision is a compelling one for my country, that I have the experience and that I can win against Donald Trump.

You know, I'm not unwilling to listen to people just because where they're coming from. I'll listen to them, but I'm not going to be beholden to them.

My People First Education plan includes universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, because the research is very clear that if you have a dollar to spend in education, it's best spent early on with high-quality pre-K so that kids can get off to a strong start.

Got a call on April 16, 2014 from President Barack Obama - I remember the date because it's not every day that the president calls you and asks you if you want a job.

But one of the most enjoyable things for me is that running for office gives you this license to enter the world of somebody else and to hear about the dreams that they have for themselves, for their family, for the country.

I do believe that being in public office is all about making choices. And if I'm president, I would steer this nation in a direction where we embrace progressive values.

I believe in the Green New Deal. Fundamentally, what we recognize is that we don't have to choose between protecting our planet and growing our economy and creating jobs and opportunity.

I actually believe that one of the lessons of 1993 and 1994, as well as 2009 and 2010, is that when a Democratic president has the opportunity - with a Democratic Congress - that you shouldn't wait to push significant legislation, whether it's health care, immigration reform, other measures.

I grew up Catholic. The Catholic faith has played an integral role in my life. At the same time, I don't think that there is a single person that doesn't have some disagreements with their faith.

In my plan, I call for breaking up ICE and returning its enforcement functions to the Department of Justice.

If the choice is between universal health care or fixing our broken immigration system or upholding a 60-vote filibuster rule that is nowhere in the Constitution, I'm going to choose actually making progress for the American people.

To me, as I see it, reparations would be something that is fairly specific to the descendants of slaves, and it would also be an official apology from the United States government for slavery.

I believe people want a President for all Americans. And so I'm out there talking about what we can do for every single American.

The No. 1 thing I want a voter to think about when they see my name, or hear my name, is what I stand for, and what I want to do for them and their family while elected.

Throughout our history the United States has benefited form having stronger relationships, including investments in Europe, that have kept us and the world safer and benefited us economically.

I do think we need to hold countries accountable who violate trade agreements that are already in place. We need to get stronger about enforcement, that in the future if we strike a trade agreement, toughening up labor standards and environmental standards and enforcement standards is something we absolutely need to do.

I have a track record of getting things done as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

People are getting more active and living healthier in San Antonio, whether it's walking, cycling, or using our parks. We now have concrete evidence that our investments are paying off and positively impacting the health of our families and the overall quality of life in San Antonio.

What I believe we need to do is to be the smartest, the healthiest, the fairest and the most prosperous nation on earth. So in order to become the healthiest nation on earth, we need a different health care system.

I started when I was 39 as a cabinet secretary, and so I feel like I have lived an experience in my life where I can relate to families that struggle, and are scraping by and scrounging.

I can understand the value of the immigrant experience and that we have become the nation that we are because people like my grandmother were able to make a life in this country.

To me, what I believe is that everybody should have the ability to enroll in Medicare. If somebody wants a supplemental plan or a private plan, then I believe they should be able to do that as well.

I don't believe we need to choose between addressing economic issues and addressing issues of social or racial justice.

It's going to be difficult for [Donald] Trump to overcome the deep first impression that he gave to the Latino community with his comments right out of the gate about Mexican immigrants, with his comments about Judge Curiel.

This president [Barack Obama] is someone who has done more to protect and keep together families with DACA and then with DAPA.

Donald Trump really has, truly has motivated the Latino community more than any other presidential candidate, I think, in generations, and motivated them in a negative way.

You can't be pro-business unless you're pro education.

I think that both Bernie [Sanders] and Hillary [Hillary] have highlighted how much, over the last few decades, we have seen the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands.

[M]y mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone. And while she may be proud of me tonight, I've got to tell you, Mom, I'm even more proud of you. Thank you, Mom.

So my concern is that - what the campaign has to do is to pull those folks [negative to Donald Trump] out and make sure that they actually get to the ballot.

[People] are ready to go out and vote. There's a difference between being ready and energized and actually going out and voting.

We've seen tremendous progress in many ways under President [Barack] Obama. I mean, if we think about where the economy was when he got in - you know, we were losing more than 700,000 jobs a month. The unemployment rate was skyrocketing. And now it's at under 5 percent, so there is a lot of progress that has happened.

For my daughter, it's going to mean something special that Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination, and I wanted to make sure that she sees that.

Donald Trump is just unfit, unprepared, just doesn't get it, shouldn't be the commander in chief of America.

The American dream is not a sprint or even a marathon but a relay.

When it comes to letting people marry whomever they love, Mitt Romney says, "No."

My hope is Donald Trump will focus on building bridges instead of walls.

To the parents, basically, of the dreamers, which was DAPA. I understand, of course, the concern that a lot of folks have had with the number of deportations. But there again, I believe that the president [Barack Obama] has made an earnest attempt to address those issues.

Tim Kaine is an excellent choice for vice president.

My hope is Donald Trump will take a longer view and a more unified approach.

A couple of years ago, my wife, Erica, and I were getting our daughter ready for school and an image of President [Barack] Obama was on one of the morning shows. And I said, oh, look, Carina, there's the president. You can be president one day. And she said, right away, that's for boys. And so right away I said, oh, no, you can be a doctor. You can be a lawyer. You can be anything you want. You can be president.

In my mind, there's no question that Donald Trump has energized the Latino community more than any other presidential candidate. Unfortunately for him, he's done that in a negative way.

I especially cannot imagine anyone who grew up during the Cold War era listening to Donald Trump and saying, you know what, that's a guy that I want to support. It makes zero sense.

At the same time, it's people that are employed - many folks - but they're still not earning enough to get into the middle class.

The American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.

Mitt Romney has undergone an extreme makeover, and it ain’t pretty.

Donald Trump ought to realise that being a president is different to being a candidate and that there is a responsibility that comes with the office.

I cannot imagine a scenario where Donald Trump does better than Mitt Romney with the Hispanic vote.

With the opportunity we build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, America will prevail. It begins with re-electing Barack Obama.

What I hear from people out there is they always say that [Donald Trump] doesn't like us. And so they're energized.

There's always a little bit of disappointment. At the same time, number one, [Hillary Clinton] made a great choice. Secondly, I'm 41. And so I feel like - that I'm excited about the years to come.