Kamala Harris Quotes & Sayings

To change criminal justice policy in any meaningful way means to propose changing a very longstanding system. It's not realistic to think you can do it overnight. — Kamala Harris

My mother had a saying: 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last.' — Kamala Harris

I was raised to be an independent woman, not the victim of anything. — Kamala Harris

You don't have to care about children to care about children. One of the things that I talk a lot about is the fact of the importance of third-grade reading level. By the end of third grade, if the child is not at reading level, it'll drop off. They never catch up. — Kamala Harris

Everyone's perspective of themselves and others is based on the limitations of their exposure. — Kamala Harris

I could do all of my activities at Howard because it was an environment that had essentially rid the ideology of false choices that I feel absolutely constricts young black students. — Kamala Harris

To be smart on crime, we should not be in a position of constantly reacting to crime after it happens. We should be looking at preventing crime before it happens. — Kamala Harris

Doing nothing while the middle class is hurting. That's not leadership. Loose regulations and lax enforcement. That's not leadership. That's abandoning our middle class. — Kamala Harris

I remember when my mother, Shyamala Harris, bought our first home. I was thirteen. She was so proud, and my sister and I were so excited. Millions of Americans know that feeling of walking through the front door of their own home for the first time - the feeling of reaching for opportunity and finding it. — Kamala Harris

My mantra about everything that has to do with public policy is: identify and reject the false choice. — Kamala Harris

I'm a career prosecutor. I have been trained, and my experience over decades, is to make decisions after a review of the evidence and the facts. And not to jump up with grand gestures before I've done that. Some might interpret that as being cautious. I would tell you that's just responsible. — Kamala Harris

Every day there are homeowners in California who will either receive relief so they can stay in their home, or will be in the foreclosure process and potentially lose their home. And that always weighed heavily on my mind. — Kamala Harris

I have a difficult time sitting down for long periods. — Kamala Harris

People who work for me know that family comes first. And I'm fortunate to have a family that is very supportive of the work I do, so I don't have to live two separate lives. — Kamala Harris

I want to use my position of leadership to help move along at a faster pace what I believe and know the Obama administration wants to do around the urgency of climate change. — Kamala Harris

Let's not build the policy around the abuse. That's not good policy. That's actually bad policy. Build the policy around the aspiration point. That's what we need to do when we're seeing abuse online. — Kamala Harris

When you expand your ability to see, you understand that there are a lot of false choices being offered. — Kamala Harris

These days, children can text on their cell phone all night long, and no one else is seeing that phone. You don't know who is calling that child. — Kamala Harris

Generally speaking, the public appetite for criminal justice policy is just tough talk. — Kamala Harris

My parents met when they were graduate students at UC Berkeley in the 1960s. They were both active in the civil-rights movement. — Kamala Harris

In California, we have some of the strongest consumer protection laws in the country. While it is easy to conceive of innovation and regulation as mutually exclusive, California is proof that we can do both. We can innovate responsibly. — Kamala Harris

The American dream belongs to all of us. — Kamala Harris

What we know is smartphones are everywhere and they are rich in data. What we know is that there are apps once downloaded by the consumer that will also in turn download the consumers' contact book. Most consumers don't want that to happen and don't know it's happening. — Kamala Harris

We don't have to guess what Mitt Romney would have done if he were president. Because he told us. He said we should let foreclosures - and I quote - 'hit the bottom' so the market could - I quote - 'run its course.' — Kamala Harris

I convened the first-ever national training conference for prosecutors on how to promote and deal with hate crime issues in terms of prosecutions and also protocol for defeating the gay panic defense. — Kamala Harris

We're talking about in the Proposition 8 case fundamental rights, civil rights. I offer no apology for the position I took in Prop. 8. — Kamala Harris

Running for office is similar to being a trial lawyer in a very long trial. It requires adrenaline and stamina; it requires being in shape mentally and emotionally. It's a marathon. — Kamala Harris

Don't pretend that you can just be oblivious to politics. You can't. What you never do is break your personal code. Have a code and keep it. You should never compromise what your priorities are. — Kamala Harris

I always start my campaigns early, and I run hard. Maybe it comes from the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco politics, where it's not even a contact sport - it's a blood sport. This is how I am as a candidate. This is how I run campaigns. — Kamala Harris

In every work environment, there will be politics. If you really want to rise to the top, you need to figure out what those politics in your workplace are. Then, you hook it in. You decide what conforms and what does not conform to your personal code. — Kamala Harris

I've had the good fortune and blessing to run for the offices for which I really wanted to do the work. — Kamala Harris

What's important for my daughter to know is that ... if you are fortunate to have opportunity, it is your duty to make sure other people have those opportunities as well. — Kamala Harris

Everybody will make mistakes, and for some that mistake will rise to the level of being a crime. — Kamala Harris

We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California. — Kamala Harris

I believe in that old adage that 'as goes California, so goes the country.' — Kamala Harris

I'm one of the luckiest people on earth. — Kamala Harris

I strongly believe that for serious and violent criminals, we must absolutely hold them accountable for their crimes and send them to prison. — Kamala Harris

So many people trip in front of them because they're looking over there or up ahead. — Kamala Harris

The bells will ring and the marriages will begin. And it's a great day in our state for equal protection under the law for all people. — Kamala Harris

I think I have every piece of music Bob Marley ever made. — Kamala Harris

'Getting smart on crime' does not mean reducing sentences or punishments for crimes. — Kamala Harris

We don't want to promote any system that treats the fact that an individual is LGBT as a personality disorder. And anything that perpetuates that perception is harmful - not only to that member of the community but the entire community. — Kamala Harris

I believe you've got to do your due diligence. — Kamala Harris

Mitt Romney subscribes to the cynical logic that says the American dream belongs to some of us but not all of us. — Kamala Harris

With the advent of DNA, we know that people have been convicted and sentenced to death who later proved not to be guilty of the crime. — Kamala Harris

What we all want is public safety. We don't want rhetoric that's framed through ideology. — Kamala Harris

I am a prosecutor in my bones. When I see something, I immediately go to: how is this going to affect a child? — Kamala Harris

I believe that a child going without an education is a crime. — Kamala Harris

In order to find balance, I feel very strongly about two things in particular in terms of routine. Work out, and eat well. — Kamala Harris

I think Hillary Clinton could do whatever she puts her mind to. I really do. She's incredibly dedicated to public service, she is smart as a whip, and she's effective. — Kamala Harris

My mother was and will always remain my greatest hero. — Kamala Harris

You have to see and smell and feel the circumstances of people to really understand them. — Kamala Harris

Eighty-two percent of prisoners in the United States are high-school dropouts. A high-school dropout between the ages of 30 and 34 is two-thirds more likely to be in jail, or to have been in jail, or to be dead. — Kamala Harris

You got to take care of yourself. If I exercise or I eat proper foods, am I indulging myself? That's called feeding your body. — Kamala Harris

Women should not allow themselves to be caught up in the hype that says performance, meaning the motions, is what matters. — Kamala Harris

I love being in a courtroom. — Kamala Harris

I'll be judged on the body of work and not the popularity of any one decision. — Kamala Harris

I have loved to cook since I was a child in my mother's kitchen. If I don't have time to cook, I'll just read a cookbook. — Kamala Harris

I work out every morning. Only half an hour. I get on the treadmill. That's it. Every morning, I don't care what time. It gets your blood flowing. It gets your adrenaline flowing. I believe in eating well. It's not fanatical. Eat good food. Make sure you've got good vegetables. — Kamala Harris