Quotes from Michael Nutter

You get respect when you give respect. That's how you get respect.

The computer is your passport, not only to the future but to knowing what's going around you.

I believe in the critical importance of participating in the political system - from voting to standing for election. It's both rewarding and necessary that men and women of good will and clear thinking engage in honest, open debate.

I got elected as the mayor of Philadelphia and yes I am black. But my responsibility is to all the citizens of the city.

We are serious about our music here in Philadelphia, and jazz has meant a lot to this city.

Philly is a place where people love change as long as things stay the same for them.

If you want to act like a butthead, your butt is going to get locked up.

I'm a big supporter of the Second Amendment. But I think I have a First Amendment right not to be shot.

Take your patience pill ...You can be joyous, but you can't be a jackass.

Politics in Philadelphia is a contact sport.

We all pay federal taxes that we send to Washington and it is not unusual that as Americans we would expect some federal investment in the cities and metro areas because we're the ones that are generating the economic activity.

Mayors could never get away with the kind of nonsense that goes on in Washington. In our world, you either picked up the trash or you didn't. You either moved an abandoned car or you didn't. You either filled a pothole or you didn't. That's what we do every day. And we know how to get this stuff done.

There is no reason for a civilian to have an automatic weapon.

You can't really escape the fact that more reasonable gun regulations and procedures need to be in place, a strengthening and tightening of the national background check system. I don't know why any civilian would ever be able to purchase an assault weapon or the parts that go with it.

We need to ban assault weapons. We need to ban the high-capacity clips and magazines. We need serious background information, system upgrade.

I believe that people, regardless of their station in life, should be able to sit down at a table to a meal - inside away from the heat and cold, the rain and the snow.

We're all in this together. I learned that lesson growing up in West Philly. When I shoveled the sidewalk my parents didn't let me stop with our house. They told me to keep shoveling all the way to the corner. I had a responsibility to my community.

To succeed in big-city politics requires a powerful, motivating vision of a better world, a plan to get there, a willingness to meet constituents on their terms, and a tough political skin.

Philadelphia, the foundation of freedom, liberty and democracy, I still believe in the idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Philadelphians are a gritty, tough people who will help you when you're down.

We need sensible gun safety measures. The federal government could do something about this; they could show up.

I think that when we have a better educated society, when there is less violence in our cities, when people get back into the workforce and have the opportunity to take care of themselves and their families - that for me really is the kind of success and the kind of America that I think most of us still want, we aspire to.

In Philadelphia, our public safety, poverty reduction, health and economic development all start with education. We can't grow the middle class if we don't give our kids the tools they need to innovate and invent.

There is no Democratic or Republican way to fill a pothole.