“I've had meetings with Fidel Castro. I've had meetings with Kim Il-Sun...” — Gary Ackerman Quote

“I've had meetings with Fidel Castro. I've had meetings with Kim Il-Sung. I've had meetings with other dictators. I've met with the Butcher of Beijing. You know, I think it's important to hear, you know, each other's perspective.”

“We have some Jewish members of Congress, not a lot but there's a bunch of us.”

“It used to be you had real friends on the other side of the aisle. It's not like that anymore. Society has changed. The public is to blame as well. I think the people have gotten dumber.”

“Looking forward, it might prove constructive to examine the true historical record of an issue prior to assuming the worst of anyone's motive and deconstructing and questioning anyone's Democratic bona fides. After all, we liberals got feelings.”

“As a state senator and then a congressman, I've had the privilege of trying to do good things for people to whom I owe so much and can never fully repay.”

“From the U.S. Capitol Building to the White House, our national symbols that represent freedom to so many of us, were built by people who were anything but free.”

“In Turkey, butchering was a low-class, degrading job. Now, thanks to me, all the kids want to become butchers.”

“A good butcher is important to have. It's like a shrink.”

“My dad, he was a construction worker. He was a butcher. He was a deep sea fisherman.”

“Governments are different, and philosophies are different, but when it comes down to it, a schoolteacher is a schoolteacher is a schoolteacher. A butcher is a butcher is a butcher. We are people. And we are far more common than we ever imagine.”

“From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.”

“I have very good knife skills. I learned to butcher on my second job - I was 18 years old. Every other day we would break down six legs of veal.”