Leadership Quote by Edward Koch

Koch turns the mystique of writing into a municipal one-liner: words as work, and work as something you do with your hands. The joke lands because it’s built on a neat bait-and-switch. He starts with “many writers,” setting up a respectable craft discussion, then cuts to “I speak,” reminding you he’s not auditioning for the novelist’s life. He’s a politician; his raw material is talk. Dictation becomes a stand-in for the whole Koch brand of public performance: direct, fast, and done in full view.

The subtext is defensive and proud at the same time. Defensive because politicians are often dismissed as glib or unliterary; Koch preempts that critique by admitting his process is speech-first, then insisting on “polish.” Proud because he’s claiming a disciplined relationship to language without pretending it’s precious. The polish matters: it signals that spontaneity isn’t carelessness, that a quip can be engineered.

Then comes the tag: “occasionally I do windows.” It’s not just a throwaway; it’s a class and temperament cue. Koch, the outer-borough pragmatist turned Manhattan power broker, winks at the idea of humble chores to puncture ego. It’s also a jab at the myth of the writer-as-genius. In his world, language is a tool like a squeegee: you use it, you clean up after it, you make it readable for the street.

Contextually, it fits a mayor who cultivated accessibility and combativeness in equal measure. The line reassures voters and needles critics: yes, I talk for a living, but I revise. And if you don’t like the shine, I can always change the pane.