Quotes from Chirlane McCray

Pay equity matters because those dollars add up over time.

My life was very compartmentalized. I went to a school that was all white, and then I went home and to my black family.

I have the advantage of many perspectives as someone who has lived in different kinds of communities: as a woman, as someone who previously identified as a lesbian, as someone who is a person of color. I've had a lot of life, so that informs what I do.

I was a lifeguard, camp counselor, the president of the YMCA Leaders Corps. I also took piano lessons. I was a dancer.

It's really hard to get enough sleep, so I try to end my days by 9 P.M. so my husband and I have time to watch TV, chat, and then I like to read for at least half an hour before bed, but we have a lot of events, and there are places to go and people to talk to.

I know my husband loves me fiercely and passionately. I know he supports me and will always stand up for me.

Symbols are important. It depends on how they're used.

Violence against women is a huge issue. A good feminist should be working on that - making the world a safer place for girls and women, wherever they live.

Telling my story has not been easy for me. I've had to dredge up memories I would have rather forgotten. The lonely, anxiety-ridden months I avoided others, attempting to hide from interrogations about my social life.

Finding the right person can be so hard that often, when a person finally finds someone she or he is comfortable with, she or he just makes it work.

If you ask the right questions, you learn a lot about people.

I'm a woman and a person of color; I know what it's like out there in the workplace.

'Bad mother' is probably the worst thing you can say to any woman who has children.

I'd like to be out in the city every day, listening to what people are saying and asking about what they need. I'd like to inspire others by doing as much as I can to help people who are trying to make a better life for themselves and others.

Labels put people in boxes, and those boxes are shaped like coffins.

Some people are just quiet - they don't need to be talking all the time and aren't extroverted, but they're not necessarily afraid to talk. I'm not really a shy person.

When you become first lady, it's like, 'O.K., now what do you do?'

I went to Wellesley College, and it was really hard for me to get a job after I graduated. I would go into places where I would not see any black people at all in Boston - like, zero. And then in publishing in New York City, it was pretty much the same. I knew that it wasn't about the value of my work.

I am more than just a label. Why are people so driven to labeling where we fall on the sexual spectrum?

You can be chased home or hit or called names or spit on, and it's over. You have the memory of it, but it's very different from the emotional and psychological experience of feeling invisible, of not learning the confidence to stand up in class and speak.

Government is not just about maintaining the status quo. It's about helping people's lives to work.

I would consider running for office. But not for mayor.

I had never had a deep sense of belonging anywhere. I always felt I was an outsider.

I like to go to the subway and hear what people are thinking and feeling and what their concerns are. You learn so much that way. You really do.