Verbatim: Nov. 12, 2007

• Share

'I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen ... I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again.'

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, Homeland Security Secretary, blasting FEMA employees for staging a fake news conference about assisting the victims of the California wildfires

'You have captured a big fish here. You guys will be on the news tonight.'

RICHARD MCNAIR, U.S. fugitive killer and three-time escapee, who was captured by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police rookie on Oct. 25

'If I had to say something about Cécilia, I would not do so here.'

NICOLAS SARKOZY, President of France, before storming off CBS's 60 Minutes set earlier this month when asked about his divorce, which had not been announced at the time of the interview

'To bomb first and then ask questions later, I think it undermines the system.'

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, criticizing Israel for September's pre-emptive attack on a rumored Syrian nuclear site

'At times I dealt with adversity ... My family and myself, we finally get to deal with happiness now.'

GENARLOW WILSON, who was released from prison on Oct. 26, after spending more than two years behind bars for having consensual oral sex as a teenager

'You can run around like mad people wielding razor blades. But it is not the best way to resolve the problem.'

VLADIMIR PUTIN, President of Russia, speaking out against U.S. sanctions on Iran over the country's nuclear program

MORE OF THE BEST QUOTES AT TIME.COM

For more daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: AP; Guardian; AP (2); CNN; AFP