The White House is not where power comes from in this country. The cities and the local communities of this nation are prepared to save Washington - and not vice versa.
I'm progressive, and I'm practical.
I've always said we need to build resilience locally.
It sure would be nice to have a Washington that was there for us, but most help has always been local and regional.
Mayors are accountable. Local governments are accountable.
If I hear that Quito, Ecuador, is doing something to have a whole area of town that's zero emissions, and we're thinking about that in Los Angeles' downtown, I'm like, 'I better catch up.'
Most people will be primarily getting into autonomous vehicles if we look 20, 30 years out. If we mandate that autonomous vehicles have to be electric, then we will move people into electric vehicles.
You don't have to be Latino to speak powerfully about how important it is to have a police department that cares for our immigrant communities.
You have to listen to your own heart.
I'm the grandson of immigrants who came across rivers and oceans to get here, some without documentation.
I'm very much a California boy. I try to eat healthy and exercise.
I agree with President Trump that we need good jobs in this country, but let's get to that business rather than the distractions of repealing Obamacare or raiding communities and taking otherwise law-abiding, contributing citizens away from their families.
The Olympics have been an amazing part of Los Angeles' history. In many ways in 1932, they put us on the map when people didn't even know where Los Angeles was. In 1984, they were the first profitable Olympics of the modern era.
There are two Americas: Washington and the rest of us.
The travel that I've spent around the country, I always come back with ideas for L.A. and vice versa: My experiences in L.A. give me an immediacy to issues that sometimes people in Washington think about but aren't experiencing every day.
In Washington, you have imaginary problems, and they can't even solve the imaginary problems.
I think everyone has the impression that L.A. is Hollywood and fast lives. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Ninety-five percent of my work is being mayor. But that 5% that nags at all of us - of what's going wrong in this country - I think is best thought out not in your own head but by getting out there, being out there, and listening to Americans.
I have an incredible compass. You can put me back in a country I haven't been in 20 years and say, 'Get me from point A to point B,' and I'll take you there.
L.A. is a great city to get lost in. The best thing to do is to drive in any direction, find a strip mall, and go from one store to the next. I guarantee you will see a collision of cultures you never imagined.
