The principles that will guide my campaign are simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker: freedom, security, and democracy. - Pete Buttigieg

The top priority of the terrorist — even more important than killing you — is to make himself your top priority. This is why protecting ourselves from terrorist violence is not enough to defeat terrorism, especially if we try to achieve safety in ways that elevate the importance of terrorists and wind up publicizing their causes.

Ours is not an ethnic identity, but a civic one. This means that for us, even more than for most people around the world, a sense of trust is not just strategically important but existentially meaningful. If the cornerstone of American identity is democracy, the cornerstone of democracy is trust.

I work for the city.” “All right. Can anyone else do your job?” “Not exactly.” “Are you the mayor?” he asked sarcastically. “Um . . .