Nobody wants to see someone's life ruined over a small-time lapse in judgment.

I would argue that the charter schools are really good at building programming and curriculum around the issues and the interests of the kids that they serve.

We must have courage to set partisanship aside and embrace the best ideas and solutions no matter which side of the aisle they come from.

Balance is a good thing - checks and balances are a good thing.

Success is measured by what we accomplish together.

When I left Harvard Pilgrim, it had been ranked first in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for customer satisfaction for six years in a row.

Our obligation to the people we serve is too important to place politics and partisanship before progress and results.

If our elected representatives want to further increase the gas tax, they should have to take a vote each time they do.

When my brothers and I were young, my mom, a Democrat, and my dad, a Republican, used to lead freewheeling discussions at our dinner table. The only rule was paying attention when others were talking, and no interrupting.

When leaders choose to burn bridges instead of build them, they sacrifice their ability to do their jobs.

Politics and public life are not for the faint of heart. It has been and always will be a noisy and cantankerous place.

When public leaders turn public debates into words of war - 'enemies' 'go to hell' 'attack' - they are enabling the edgiest of their followers to take things into their hands, and unfortunately, some of them do.

How well we spend education dollars is just as important as how much we spend.

There are creative ways to create pathways to sufficiency for families in need. To do so, we need to work together to implement good ideas.

When a mom or dad can stop worrying about where they will lay their head each night they can start climbing back on their feet and out of poverty.

Competition in politics is just as important as competition in everything else.

If you want to be great, you should be great everywhere, not just here and there.

I think I've got a track record and an experience brief that I'll put up against anybody's.

There's value in checks and balances. And there's value in having independence in the governor's office with respect to the legislature.

I'm a very big believer that the primary focus for any organization at any point in time should always be smarter, better, faster.

This is Massachusetts, we're supposed to be one of the tech centers of the world. We have MIT within walking distance of the state house.

One of the advantages of getting elected governor when you're 58 instead of 38 is you have some mileage on you and part of that means some history and some relationships with people who have spent a fair amount of their career in the public and in the private sector.

I've said many times that people are policy. And to be truly successful in any big organization you need to put people into jobs where they have relevant experience, relevant subject-matter expertise and the capacity to actually perform.

I'm not a virtue signaler.

I rode it a lot before I was governor. I rode the commuter rail for a lot of years, I rode the T for a lot of years, and I talk to people all the time who ride both.

You just can't get surprised when you get surprised, because weird stuff just comes over the transom all the time, and it's not necessarily anything that you've planned for or anticipated.

The thing I would say is governments have the tendency to over-promise and under-perform. So the over-promise part ends up sounding very aspirational. But it's the performance part that ultimately people feel every day and read about. And my goal is to make sure, whatever it is we aspire to, that we deliver on.

I think people are kind of tired of the really amped-up rhetoric that passes for a lot of political dialogue, and they appreciate the fact that that's not the way we are participating in this process.

I'm a big believer in what I call demand-style workforce development. It looks at what kinds of skills are in demand out there in the workplace. It takes that approach to skill-building.

I do see great opportunity to make reforms to our tax code, making it simpler, fairer and removing corporate loopholes.

My mission will be to improve life across Massachusetts, including communities and geographies that are seeing a slower economic recovery. Lower and fairer taxes are an important part of creating jobs and accomplishing that goal.

I oppose indexing gas tax hikes to inflation.

We need to root out the waste and abuse that is rampant in our state agencies. When we do that and grow the economy, we will be able to fund the vital programs and services we need.

I'm a pro-choice candidate and I support marriage equality - my brother is actually gay and married. But I'm a pretty hard-headed guy when it comes to the budget and whether you're getting a bang for your buck.

I'm not going to raise taxes.

I think our agenda is very aspirational.

There are a number of issues that I disagree vehemently with Mr. Trump on. I question whether he's got the temperament to serve as president.

I'm a big-tent Republican.

I've supported a lot of folks with a lot of points of view. But I have concerns about Mr. Trump's temperament. Some of the things he's said about women, Muslims and religious freedom, I just can't support.

I've said for a long time that the governor and the mayors should be far more engaged in this conversation at the federal level. I mean, the consequences and the impact of the federal government's broken immigration policy do not land on the backs of the people in Washington. They just don't.

I believe I'm a real champion for women.

There are very few people who work for me who are afraid to tell me what I don't want to hear.

The biggest difference between the private sector and public sector is in the private sector, there's a sense of urgency because you have customers and you have competitors. Whereas in government, one of your major objectives is to not make any really big mistakes.

I hope when I am governor and it's all over, I am a governor who underpromised and overdelivered.

My wife, Lauren, is a remarkably good sport and one of the most adaptable personalities I've ever met.

I don't think it's appropriate for people who are citizens of Massachusetts to be waiting in line when folks who aren't citizens access benefits.

The Democrats for the most part want to raise taxes, we don't.

Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci are my political role models.

As governor, I would seek to ensure that Massachusetts has access to a balanced portfolio of low-cost energy that doesn't put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to other states, or put an even heavier burden on working families.

Expanding Massachusetts' developing gaming industry to include wagering on professional sports is an opportunity for Massachusetts to invest in local aid while remaining competitive with many other states pursuing similar regulations.