He summed up his view on strikes this way: First you get a whip, and then when everyone knows you have it, you put it in the refrigerator. - David Dubinsky

When he announced his retirement on March 16, 1966, he told fellow union officers, I didn't have a life, I had a union life. He went on: You know my nature. If I'm president I can't only be president from morning till night. It has to be from morning until the next morning.

Yes, we were dreamers when we advocated legislation for Unemployment Insurance, for Social Security, for minimum wages. They laughed at our crazy ideas. Although we have not reached perfection, many of our ‘wild dreams' have now become realities of everyday life.

Once after he was re-elected, he said: I have accepted the presidency again because I am foreign-born, and I am proud of the great service we have performed for America. When we banished the sweatshops, when we reduced the hours of work, when we increased wages, when we provided health centers, when we established Unity House, when we participated in community life, when we eliminated worry, torture, hunger and starvation, we performed a service for the future of America.