Top 268 Quotes & Sayings by Michael Bloomberg - Page 2

Last I looked - and I'm not a candidate - but last time I checked reading about the Constitution, the Electoral College has nothing to do with parties, has absolutely nothing to do with parties. It's most states are winners take all.

Our goal here in New York is to ensure that every child who graduates high school is ready to start a career or start college and to dramatically increase the number of students that graduate from college.

We can only create good jobs if we make smarter investments in infrastructure and do more to support small businesses, not stiff them.

I know how to make decisions and stand up to the criticism every day.

I know something about how to build constituencies in an independent way.

China is investing in factories in Eastern Europe, not because their labor costs are lower, but because they want to be closer to their markets.

Government is dysfunctional.

Progress really is possible.

We can only solve our biggest problems if we come together and embrace the freedoms that our Founding Fathers established right here in Philadelphia, which permitted our ancestors to create the great American exceptionalism that all of us now enjoy.

I believe in Judaism, I was raised a Jew, I'm happy to be one - or proud to be one.

The level of analysis that is done when you see laws created, whether it's the city or state or federal level - it's much more horse-trading than analysis.

We should remember it wasn't so long ago that confidence in New York was in short supply.

I'd be happy to provide advice if anybody asked me no matter who the President is.

I've been a Democrat, I've been a Republican, and I eventually became an independent because I don't believe either party has a monopoly on good ideas or strong leadership.

I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom.

My father worked all the time.

I'd be derelict in my duty if I didn't go and continue to use every advantage that I can to promote New York's cause.

I never lie, so if somebody asked me a question, I told them.

I mean, you know, we don't live in a perfect world.

Government shouldn't tell you whom to marry.

Nobody is going to delegate a lot of power to a secretary that they can't control.

What has changed is that people have stopped working together.

To a contrarian like me, constant advice not to do something almost always starts me quickly down the risky, unpopular path.

I'm trying to change the culture in New York City; that's hard enough!

If a hurricane strikes, we can blame the president for not being there; we can blame Congress and FEMA; we can blame the state governments; but in the end, it's the mayors and the local city governments that have to be prepared for emergencies and be prepared to act.

Today, as an independent, an entrepreneur, and a former mayor, I believe we need a president who is a problem solver, not a bomb thrower. Someone who can bring members of Congress together to get things done. And I know Hillary Clinton can do that because I saw it firsthand.

Trees will improve property values, take pollutants out of the air, help with water runoff.

There's a fascinating statistic: One out of every four people in America has visited New York since 9/11. It is astounding. Now, I don't know how you count it; it's some people coming multiple times.

There is no business in America that would be prevented from taking results into account when making personnel decisions.

America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it who did.

What chance does a five-foot-seven billionaire Jew who's divorced really have of becoming president?

When the Founding Fathers arrived here in Philadelphia to forge a new nation, they didn't come as Democrats or Republicans or to nominate a presidential candidate. They came as patriots who feared party politics.

You can't depend on polls.

No matter what you may think about her politics or her record, Hillary Clinton understands that this is not reality television; this is reality. She understands the job of president. It involves finding solutions, not pointing fingers; and offering hope, not stoking fear.

This society cannot go forward, the way we have been going forward, where the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing. It's not politically viable; it's not morally right; it's just not going to happen.

I don't know why you should be proud of something. It doesn't make you any better or worse. You are what you are.

Look, we live in a very dangerous world. We know there are people who want to take away our freedoms. New Yorkers probably know that as much if not more than anybody else after the terrible tragedy of 9/11.

Stubborn isn't a word I would use to describe myself; pigheaded is more appropriate.

I think one of the great dangers here is going and categorizing anybody from one religion as a terrorist. That's not true... That would let the terrorists win. That's what they want us to do.

I don't believe that government is good at picking technology, particularly technology that is changing. By the time you get it done and go through democracy, it's so outdated.

The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry. But we live in a complex world where you're going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.

The CIA will only hire people with impeccable credentials to be a translator. 'Impeccable credentials' means you've never lived outside the United States.

Unemployment in America today is too high. And part of the reason, unfortunately, is that many companies cannot fill the high-skilled jobs increasingly at risk of going overseas.

I understand the appeal of a businessman president. But Trump's business plan is a disaster in the making.

You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

Progress is not inevitable. It's up to us to create it.

My father, a bookkeeper who never earned more than $11,000 a year in his life, sat there, writing out a $25 check to the NAACP. When I asked him why, he said discrimination against anyone is discrimination against us all. And I never forgot that. Indeed, his philanthropy was a gift, not just to that organization, but to me.

I like the theater, dining and chasing women. Let me put it this way: I am a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. It's like a wet dream.

There will be ups, there will be downs, there will be sideways. I can just tell you I have been hired, I have been fired, I have been lauded, I have been vilified. I've said some of the most brilliant things that just by accident appeared on my tongue, and I've said some of the dumbest things that you could imagine. But each day - even the day that I knew I was going to be fired - I looked forward to because I've always believed that tomorrow was going to be the best day of my life.

Entrepreneurship is having an idea to do something great and not entirely have a plan on how to do it but the drive and will power to make it work

Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure.

If someone tells me they skied all day and never fell down, I tell them to find another mountain.

If you don't encounter setbacks in your career, if you don't have doubts and disappointments , let me tell you, you're not dreaming big enough.

I know a con when I see one.

Don't be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities and don't let the bastards get you down.

I've always respected those who tried to change the world for the better, rather than just complain about it.

You must first be willing to fail — and you must have the courage to go for it anyway.

If you want to know how to solve society's problems, you start out with better public education.

Being an entrepreneur isn't really about starting a business. It's a way of looking at the world: seeing opportunity where others see obstacles, taking risks when others take refuge.

Working collectively and collaboratively is the difference between mediocrity by yourself or success as a team. You have to share the pain and the responsibility and if you do then you will also share in the rewards.