Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
It sounds corny, but I never have avoided the challenges - I relish them - I think it's what make me tick, to a certain extent.
As a city, we have to face the reality that New York's minority communities experience a disproportionate share of violent crime.
I was only aggressive with my game play. I was not aggressive with people. My personality was just as humble as I can be out there.
While the government can tell you that I am an innocent man, the government's letter cannot give me back my good name or my reputation.
Character develops in stream of struggle and adversity. Character is foundation of your inner beauty which reflects in your personality.
Today it is becoming harder to speak out, with the inception of the Patriot Act, the president has legislated free speech to be a crime.
The federal government is doing less than it is lawfully entitled to do to protect New York City, and the City is less safe as a result.
Commit yourself to do something innovative which average people are afraid to do. Aim high and push yourself to achieve every thing you wished.
One attraction of Latin is that you can immerse yourself in the poems of Horace and Catullus without fretting over how to say, "Have a nice day."
The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which honest police officers can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers.
If you put Sen. Kerry in the White House, I think you are going to see that another terrorist attack happen ... and I don't want to see another Sept. 11.
An honest cop still can't find a place to go and complain without fear of recrimination. The blue wall will always be there because the system supports it.
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that if you stop or curtail stop-and-frisk, or if cops are reluctant to do it, violent crimes are going to go up.
I think, as a nation, we didn't learn our lessons from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. We should have been more careful in a whole host of areas.
In New York City we have the biggest police force in the country. We have 35,000 uniformed officers. We're able to mass officers in significant numbers if we had to.
I've been the longest-serving police commissioner in the history of the department, but it's time in my life to move on. I'm ready for new adventures, new challenges.
My acting career began on the streets of New York. When I was a cop, I played many impressive roles, from derelict to a doctor, and my life often depended on my performance.
What is important-what lasts-in another language is not what is said but what is written. For the essence of an age, we look to its poetry and its prose, not its talk shows.
No one is perfect. Even the most confident people have insecurities. At some point in of our lives, we may feel we lack something. That is reality. We must try to live as per our capability.
Protecting the city is my job, which doesn't translate into hatred. This is war, and in most wars, professional soldiers don't hate the enemy. Hatred can blind you in ways that mar your judgment.
If you go into any department store these days, your picture is probably taken 30 times. In London there are 500,000 cameras in public spaces. You have no expectation of privacy in public spaces.
I don't think I've become arrogant. I'm pretty much the same person. I think the world has changed. I think I'm pretty consistent. Because you stick to what you believe does not make you arrogant.
I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone it's going to be recorded and it goes to the government. I think the public can understand that.
You can be stopped if a police officer reasonably suspects a crime is about to be committed, is being committed or has been committed. Every law enforcement agency does it. It's essential to policing.
I think it's only natural to want to look good. I enjoy good clothes, so 18 years ago I moved to having custom-made suits. They last longer. They fit you better. In my opinion, I think men don't spend enough on clothes.
Every action has equal and opposite reaction. This is law of the universe and spares none. Wrong done and injustice inflicted is paid back in the same coin. No one has escaped justice of the universe. It is only a matter of time.
You have multiple intelligence agencies. They all ultimately report to the director of national intelligence but, you know, it never comes in neat packages. So you have to make judgments on what you have, and it's not easy to do.
New York is safer than it has been - and it's getting safer. But it's never safe. As the financial and communications capital of the world, this is where terrorists want to make a statement, where they get the most bang for the buck.
I liked the military life. They teach you self-sufficiency early on. I always say that I learned most of what I know about leadership in the Marine Corps. Certain basic principles stay with you - sometimes consciously, mostly unconsciously.
The NYPD has too urgent a mission and too few officers for us to waste time and resources on broad, unfocused surveillance. We have a responsibility to protect New Yorkers from violent crime or another terrorist attack - and we uphold the law in doing so.
Never deter from your path of determination and commitment. There may be obstacle but never fret. These obstacles are to make you more strong and committed to spread your wings of determination so that you can fly higher and higher to touch the sky of achievement.
The fight for justice against corruption is never easy. It never has been and never will be. It exacts a toll on our self, our families, our friends, and especially our children. In the end, I believe, as in my case, the price we pay is well worth holding on to our dignity.
You're always trying to impress your parents regardless of how old you are. And when they're gone, there's nobody to impress. But I think my parents would be proud of me. My father has been gone for 30 years, and by the time he passed away, I was a lawyer. I hope he would be impressed.
Virtually everything I learned about leadership traits and core values, I learned in the Marine Corps. To this day, I keep a list of the traits in a little black book, 14 of them, including integrity, justice, bearing, enthusiasm, endurance - all indicators you aspire to when you're a leader.
When I had the job of police commissioner, 20 years ago, I was more sensitive, more cognizant of complaints and concerned about public opinion. I've learned to do what I think is the right thing. That lessens the impact of criticism. You get used to a pressurized environment and expect it every day.
I'm 40 years old now and I have my friends from five years old up to 40, over 20 lifelong friends I have. And you can't keep that. You can't have that kind of friendship with people for 40 years from childhood friends if you're not an honorable person and if you're not a respectful person. And that's exactly what I am.
I understand, probably more than anyone, what a threat Iraq was and the people that threatened Iraq was. I was beneath the towers on September 11th when they fell. And I -- again, I just -- I want to thank the President for the honor in allowing me to go there, because I lost 23 people. I wear this memorial band for the 23 I lost.
No other agency is scrutinized like the police. Everything we do is in a goldfish bowl. We are not the most popular people in society. We do things like use deadly force; we're the bearers of bad news. We're not firefighters, who are viewed as heroic, helping people, with people loving them back. The police have a much more complex and demanding job.
Good news is not news. Bad news sells. Confrontation sells. And that's what the press is always looking for. I'm not bragging, but I have the highest job-approval rating of any public official in the city. And I've had it consistently. The approval rating for the police department is 70 percent. This notion that stop-and-frisk has torn the community apart is false.
I think I've had a long, distinguished career in public service. It just goes to show you what some politicians will do. They'll say or do anything to get elected. I know all these people. They all claimed to be friends of mine up until their mayoral campaigns. They'd call me on the phone and ask for information or come over here and sit in this chair to get briefed.
I never think of the word legacy. It doesn't mean anything. You do the right thing, in my judgment, and things will work out. That's what drives me. I'm not looking for legacy or history books or whatever. I know what we've done here has saved a significant number of lives. The burden is not on me. It's on the politicians who made the decisions to limit what we're doing. They're the ones who are going to pay a price, in my judgment, if crime significantly increases.
I'm not an aspiring rapper, I'm not a gang member, I'm not a dope dealer, I don't have multiple babies momma's. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA.