I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.
The fact that they're a congressionally chartered group should no more incline people to give to that group than the fact that it's National Pickle Month should make them eat more pickles.
They appear to have become so attached to their outrage that they are even more outraged that they won't be able to be outraged anymore.
Legislators have a formal set of responsibilities to work together, but there's no hierarchy.
It wasn't until after I was reelected in 1982 that I thought of myself as a long-term member of Congress.
Pat Moynihan could write books with one hand and legislate with the other. I can't; I have a short attention span. The slightest distraction would take me away from writing.
Lawyers are very, very good at keeping you out of prison, but they will sacrifice your reputation and credibility to do so.
And unless you think there is a serious chance you're going to jail, don't listen to your lawyer.
In America, unlike England, unlike Israel, unlike Japan, other democracies, we have elections that have staggered terms.
Well, I don't give it out very often, but I reject the notion that you have to be a practitioner to give good advice.
I had always been interested in politics. I had assumed, for a variety of - well, for two reasons, being Jewish and being gay back in the late '50s, early '60s - that I would never be elected or anything, but I would participate as an activist.
I am very proud of the role I played in getting legal equality for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and in helping get rid of the prejudice by being visible about it, helping to block the conviction of Bill Clinton of impeachment.
I have done a lot of work for affordable housing, rental housing. I understand the rap on me and other liberals is, oh, we push poor people into homeownership. And it's exactly the opposite of the case. We were trying to prevent those kinds of bad loans.
I filed the first gay rights bill in Massachusetts history in 1972 in the legislature, one of the first in the country.
There's only one thing you can do in bankruptcy: break your word, break your deals. It allows you to say to the small businesses, who have been catering lunches for you, 'Sorry, we're not paying you.' It allows you to go to the workers and say, 'Sorry, we're not paying you.'
As a liberal, I am morally obligated to be pragmatic. What good do I do poor people, elderly people, people who are being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation if I'm not realistic about accomplishing something.
I'm a good legislator. I'm a bad some other things.
