Washington was a swamp. It was not somewhere that they believed people would want to go, so the idea was that people got involved as a public service, not to make a career out of it.
Going back to high school and college, I believed I would be involved in public service. I literally could not conceptualize anything else.
I walk around - people know who I am. I've got friends. I can make ends meet. I grew up around people who have been hustling from the start, so I think I've got a bright little future ahead of me - especially if I don't fight. Why would I want to go out there and fight with somebody, get my face punched and kicked. It's not my idea of a good time.
I've always wanted to make 'Swamp Thing.' I like 'Swamp Thing.' I think it's a good idea, and I thought it would be a good venue for a 3-D movie, but there were rights issues with 'Swamp Thing.'
When you go into public service, you understand you're trading something. You want to feel good about what you do, but you're not going to make what people in private sector make.
I started as a community organizer. Every one of my campaigns was premised on getting new people involved. And if there's a theme in my public career it's that if ordinary people get involved then good things happen. So I want to see the Democratic Party move in that direction. And what that means is that we aren't just micro-targeting to eke out presidential victories; it means that we're showing up in places where right now we're not winning a lot.
Without your voice being heard in Washington, the decisions we make aren't as good. I would urge women to consider public service. And if you want to run, give me a call. I'll help.
The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. The fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.
My record proves that I don't make political or public-service decisions based on what typical folks in Washington do, which is, 'What's going to get me past the next election, or what's best for my career?'
[N]ine-tenths of the people who are in the Home Service don't want to go abroad. They are people who live in Washington and have gotten acquainted with the jungle of this town and know their way around.
So we listen. We add up associations of people with people. When a push against Scientology starts somewhere, we go over the people involved and weed them out. Push vanishes.
Coming in, I had no idea basketball would be a career for me, but I grew 7 inches in college and was fortunate to have a great career in the NBA. The experience taught me about service, what our great country was built on, the sacrifices people have made, how to work together and trust the people around you to accomplish a great goal.
I think there's no higher calling in terms of a career than public service, which is a chance to make a difference in people's lives and improve the world.
I have no friends and I never leave my house. You just have to make a choice to just refuse to be involved with things that could get you in trouble. It's easy when you feel upset or depressed about something to want to go to a club and want to drink, but instead I just force myself to sit and feel it and deal with it, and try to grow from it, because I don't want to go down that path. I'm one of the most isolated people in existence right now, but it's worth it because if I wasn't making that decision I would be throwing away my career.
As soon as people really get into the swamp - the scary swamp that is 'Fortitude' - there's no getting out of it. You need about six to seven episodes in to really go, 'This is what it's about.'
I believed in the goodness of the Australian people; I believed they did not want to be attacking each other, and from those thoughts, I got the idea of Reconciliation in the campaign slogan and of turning this into something practical by calling a summit to bring representatives of all sections of society together, from the wealthiest to the poor.
Hoosiers sent me to Washington to help President Trump drain the swamp, and it starts with cutting out generous taxpayer-funded perks that keep career politicians in D.C.