Pete Buttigieg

“So, I've learned - as a young Democrat, I've learned to think cautiously before offering advice to Nancy Pelosi.”

“On this National Immigration Day of Action, it is worth remembering that it's not just Americans in New York or Los Angeles who believe that we need a more humane and rational system.”

“Donald Trump got elected because, in his twisted way, he pointed out the huge troubles in our economy and our democracy.”

“If somebody is pointing out that there are advantages - many of them unfair - that go along with being male in our society and in our politics, then I completely agree.”

“My surname, Buttigieg (Boot-edge-edge), is very common in my father's country of origin, the tiny island of Malta, and nowhere else.”

“I think that policy matters. I'm a policy guy.”

“An election is supposed to be about our whole country - we can't just concentrate on those areas where people, for the most part, already agree with us.”

“I met my husband through an app that talks to social-networking sites, and that's how we were sort of suggested to each other, and it turned out to be a great match.”

“To me, what success looks like is not to believe that Afghanistan can become a unified, Western-style democracy with a developed-country economy just yet. I think success in the American interest is some level of assurance that it's not going to be a place that again leads to an attack on the American homeland.”

“I think of myself as a democratic capitalist, although I think the word 'socialism' loses its meaning every time that it is used to describe literally any policy left of far right by the current Republicans.”

“The first news event I understood as a small child was the loss of the space shuttle Challenger, which President Reagan eloquently mourned from the Oval that evening.”

“Experiences with friends or family members coming out have helped millions of Americans to see past stereotypes and better understand what being gay is - and is not.”

“My understanding of my faith is that - through a Christian framework - part of what we are called to do is to lay down our own self-interests, after the model of divinity that comes into this world in the form of Christ and lays down his life. And in order to do that, you have to care about something or someone more than yourself.”

“In many ways, Trump appeals to people's smallness, their fears, whatever part of them wants to look backward.”

“We can't look for greatness in the past.”

“I think most Americans understand that we deserve to have universal health care, as enjoyed by most citizens in most developed countries.”

“Being the mayor of your hometown is the best job in America, partly because it's relatively nonpartisan - we focus on results, not ideology.”

“Like anyone who follows politics, I am sometimes mesmerized by the twisted and relentless drama playing out in Washington. But I also know about the price of distraction - the consequences of our attention being diverted from how politics affects daily life.”

“A message is something that makes sense no matter who you're running against.”

“You're not free if you can't marry the person you love because a county clerk is imposing his or her interpretation of religion on you.”