I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.

I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

People think that at the top there isn't much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.

And I think that we in America need to understand that many schools need improvement, and particularly with respect to how they're serving minority children.