Top 15 Michael Bloomberg Quotes

Working collectively and collaboratively is the difference between mediocrity by yourself...or success as a team. You have to share the pain... and the responsibility... and if you do then you will also share in the rewards.

Taxes are not good things, but if you want services, somebody's got to pay for them so they're a necessary evil.

Despite its potential, the federal government has restricted funding for creating new cell lines – putting the burden of any future research squarely on the shoulders of the private sector. Government's most basic responsibility, however, is the health and welfare of its people, so it has a duty to encourage appropriate scientific investigations that could possibly save the lives of millions.

Despite the potential to lead us to new cures, the federal government has restricted funding for creating new cell lines – putting the burden of any future research squarely on the shoulders of the private sector. The consequences of this decision have not only driven thousands of scientists overseas in search of more money and greater opportunity – but also put the brakes on the march of medicine. I’ve always wondered how these legislators would act if their health – or their children’s health – was on the line and stem cell research might lead to a cure."

I've always wondered if people who block each other from expressing their opinions do so because they have so little confidence in their own. To me, encountering an opposing point of view is a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the issues at stake... and develop my own point of view. But the first thing you've got to do is you've got to let people speak and you've got to listen. And that's what the first amendment is all about. That's what really distinguishes this country from others.

Progress is not inevitable. It's up to us to create it.

On his controversial initiative "Opportunity NYC": "Now, you might say, 'why should we pay people for doing what they're supposed to do?' It's a fair question -- but think of it this way. Every other anti-poverty program that's been tried has failed to get the national poverty rate below 11 percent. … Why shouldn't we experiment with a program built around the one strategy that has proven time and again to work wonders -- capitalism?"

The federal poverty measurement … hasn't been changed since it was first introduced in 1964. … [T]he formula [doesn't] indicate that we've made any gains in fighting poverty. … [Yet] we have made real progress in fighting poverty and raising living standards since the 70s. … The poverty formula … is bankrupt.

Others may doubt us. They may criticize us. They may try to deny us what is rightfully ours. But they will fail. And I promise you, as long as I am mayor, I will never back away from fighting any opponent -- or confronting any obstacle -- that would prevent our people from achieving all of their dreams in Our New York.

I was elected to be independent. I was elected because I owed no political debts. I was elected to do the job, and not to spend my first four years in office campaigning. I've kept that promise -- and that's why we face the future with renewed optimism.

Leading from the front: It's what built America. But these days, the federal government isn't at the front – it's cowering in the back corner of the room, ducking responsibility and hoping no one notices.

Our reputation has been hurt very badly in the last few years. We've had a go-it-alone mentality in a world where because of communications and transportation, you should be going exactly in the other direction.

Too often, failing government agencies get bigger budgets, while successful agencies have their budgets cut – because government caters to those screaming the loudest, regardless of what they're screaming about. In business, it's exactly the opposite! You invest more in the most successful departments, and less in those that aren't performing.

One's a dog-eat-dog world, and the other one's just the opposite.

Partisanship may be King in Washington – but the rest of us don't have to pay tribute.