Edward Irving "Ed" Koch (December 12, 1924 - February 1, 2013) was an American lawyer, politician, political commentator, movie critic and reality television arbitrator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City, which he led from fiscal insolvency to economic boom, from 1978 to 1989. (Click here for full Wikipedia article)
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Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life.
How'm I doin'?
I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.
I'm not the type to get ulcers. I give them.
If I traveled to the end of the rainbow as Dame Fortune did intend, Murphy would be there to tell me the pot's at the other end.
If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.
If you seek violence, we will seek to put you in jail.
In a neighborhood, as in life, a clean bandage is much, much better than a raw or festering wound.
In action be primitive; in foresight, a strategist.
It is not possible to remake the world. You can fix parts, but you can't remake the world.
It's a lot more fun being a critic than being the one criticized.
No, I am not a homosexual. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the courage to say so. What's cruel is that you are forcing me to say I am not a homosexual. This means you are putting homosexuals down. I don't want to do that.
Stereotypes lose their power when the world is found to be more complex than the stereotype would suggest. When we learn that individuals do not fit the group stereotype, then it begins to fall apart.
The art of creation is older than the art of killing.
The mere process of growing old together will make the slightest acquaintance seem a bosom friend.
The person who is bent on killing you will follow you wherever you are.
The Republicans are coming- make nice.
There's a nastiness out there that wants to harm me with words. These are my enemies- the ideologues, the populists, the columnists who don't like the fact that I take them on toe-to-toe. What I try to do is tell the truth. It's not the coin of the realm in politics.
There's enormous energy required to carry grudges- enormous energy! And I'm getting too old to expend my energy that way, cause I think every person has a limited amount of energy. So I have given up all grudges.
To learn something new every day is still exciting!
Tone can be as important as text.
Twelve years ago, if someone attacked me, I wouldn't let them get away with it. I'd take them on. I now perceive my job to include allowing people to vent their rage.
We're in the hands of the state legislature and God, but at the moment, the state legislature has more to say than God.
When all are wrong, everyone is right.
Whenever I leave Manhattan, I get the bends!
You don't have to love them. You just have to respect their rights.
You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag.
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(February 1 is also the birthday of S.J. Perelman.)
Categories: Ed Koch, Quotes of the day
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