Verbatim: Jul. 14, 2003

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"I don't understand why the United States government would insist that I be absent before its soldiers arrive." CHARLES TAYLOR, president of Liberia, claiming he won't leave his country until peacekeepers intervene to prevent violence between warring factions; President Bush has asserted that Taylor's departure would be a prerequisite for U.S. troop deployment

"I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament and that sacrament should extend...to that legal entity of a union between what traditionally in our Western values has been defined as between a man and a woman." BILL FRIST, Senate majority leader, endorsing a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriages

"It's the right thing to do for our employees. We want all of our associates to feel they are valued and treated with respect--no exceptions. " MONA WILLIAMS, Wal-Mart vice president of communications, on the company's decision to include gays and lesbians in its antidiscrimination policy

"I think this is his last laugh." JOSEPH BIDEN, Democratic Senator from Delaware, on being picked by Strom Thurmond to deliver a eulogy at his funeral

"The Holy Ghost was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic." MEL GIBSON, actor, on directing The Passion, a movie about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life

"The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate." WWW.GOOGLE.COM, satirical alert to users of the search engine who type in the words "weapons of mass destruction" and then click on the box labeled "I'm Feeling Lucky"

"They're too dead to defend themselves." JOHN PERRY BARLOW, friend of John F. Kennedy Jr., on a new book making gossipy allegations about troubles between Kennedy and his wife Carolyn before their death in a plane crash in 1999

Sources: AP (2); New York Times; Washington Post; Google; Colorado Springs Gazette; CNN