I act on my principles, whether they're popular or not.

No-Drama Obama? Yeah, that's not me.

Do what you think is right, because one damn thing is an absolute, certainly: We come and go. Politicians are a dime a dozen.

If you distill the essence of everything, what life is about, every single one of us is given a short moment in time on this planet, and we all have one universal need and desire, and that is to be loved and to love. And to deny that for your own political expediency, I don't want to live in that column. It ain't worth it.

People always thought I'd never get elected outside San Francisco; I was always more worried that I'd never get elected again inside San Francisco.

You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger champion of high-speed rail than me when the bond went to voters. I believed in it.

Since Sandy Hook, I have sat back as a father and been mesmerized by the inability of the federal government to do anything substantively on gun safety.

Good people can disagree.

Separate is not equal. Civil unions are civil unions. Marriage is marriage. They're different institutions.

It was difficult to realize, 'I'm lieutenant governor.' And Brown appropriately reminded me of that.

The question for politicians here is fundamental: You can read the polls, or you can change the polls. Stand up on the things you believe in.

The economy is not immutable; it's not about natural laws. It's about rules, and we make the rules.

If, in this country, a simple majority of people can start stripping away the rights of a protected class in the minority, that's a pretty alarming thing.

Prop 8 did something that no other state in the history of this country has done. It took away the rights of people that already were legally affirmed. Imagine someone putting something on the ballot saying your wedding, your marriage is no longer valid.

Separate inherently is not equal. There's a reason why $45 million was spent against marriage equality. It's because people understand the word does have meaning. And equality comes when we accept the same notions and the same institutions for everyone, regardless of race and gender and regardless of sex orientation.

People don't have to agree with me. They can say, 'My gosh, I can't believe I'm listening to this guy. I can't disagree with him more.' But at least they know that I'm going to fight for things that I believe in. And I don't need to be in formal office to do that.

I really feel it's time to dissolve the current relationship of governor and lieutenant governor by running as a ticket.

I've never been a fan of pretense or procrastination. After all, our state is defined by its independent, outspoken spirit.

When Californians see something we truly believe in, we say so and act accordingly - without evasiveness or equivocation.

I will negotiate with my worst enemy.

If we continue to fight the National Rifle Association on their home court, which is the legislative front, I think we'll continue to be frustrated. But when you have an ability to go directly to the public, that's a completely different field of engagement, and I think the NRA is not adept at that kind of engagement.

A mistake that a lot of us have made, related to those who advocate for gun safety legislation, is that we try to process it through our legislative bodies, and that's where the NRA's strength lies.

There's been a gap between perception and reality, the perception being that California is on the cutting edge of gun safety legislation when, in fact, there are a number of areas where we have fallen behind.

At the end of the day, there's not a day that goes by without a mass shooting.

Even though he's a third-generation San Franciscan, my father's very European in some ways, and he loves wine.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency among political elites to distrust the opinions of ordinary people. They are perceived to base their views on dark instincts and unjustified fears, rather than on rational choices. European voters, however, are highly educated, and it is ridiculous to suppose they can be easily fooled or manipulated.

Cultural relativism has made it so people don't know who they are anymore.

Excluding certain problems from the political debate by making it a crime to discuss them won't lead to the disappearance of these concerns, let alone contribute to a solution.

We can never allow people who use nondemocratic means, people who use violence instead of arguments, people who use knives instead of debates, we can never allow them to set the agenda.

In referendums in 2005, the Dutch and the French electorates rejected the European Constitution, which aimed to turn the E.U. into a genuine state. But Brussels refused to take no for an answer. It went ahead with its plans for a constitutional treaty, notwithstanding the people's opposition. Brussels thinks it knows better than the people.

I hate consensus. I like confrontation.

Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims.

I am not saying all Muslims are wrong or are terrorists or criminals. You will never hear me say that.

The European Union cannot be compared to the United States. America is a nation, but Europe is not. Europe is a continent of many different nations with their own identities, traditions and languages. Robbing them of their national democracies does not create a European democracy - it destroys democracy in Europe.

On Islam, it is true that I am tough. Perhaps tougher than I should be if my only aim was to get votes.

People and nations wither away without the freedom to question what is presented to them as the truth.

We want to make our own Netherlands, to close our borders and to keep all that money that we give to the foreigners, there is billions, to Africa for development, to Brussels, to Greece, to asylum seekers in the Netherlands, we will stop that and give all that money to the Dutch people living in the Netherlands.

If one in four Dutch people saying they will vote for my party, it's ridiculous to say we're divisive or extreme.

Festering political problems do not go away simply because they are kept in a dark corner.

Without sovereignty, a nation cannot exist. Without borders, it can't be defined or protected.

While there are many moderate Muslims, Islam's political ideology is radical and has global ambitions.

Mass immigration changes countries beyond recognition. Ordinary people are well aware of that.

There is a perfectly good alternative to the European Union - it is called the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are members. E.F.T.A. stands for friendship and cooperation through free trade.

My view on Islam is that it is not so much a religion as a totalitarian political ideology with religious elements.

I believe that politicians have a public trust to further debates about important issues. I firmly believe that every public debate holds the prospect of enlightenment.

Citizens should never allow themselves to be silenced.

I am not a consensus politician... This is something that is really very un-Dutch.

People hate me, or they love me. There's nothing in between. There is no gray area.

We should wake up and tell ourselves: You're not a xenophobe, you're not a racist, you're not a crazy guy if you say, 'My culture is better than yours.'

I don't believe in political self-censorship.