Verbatim

'I want Barack Obama to be the next President of our country. As an official celebrity, I know my endorsement has just made your mind up for you.' TOM HANKS, endorsing the Illinois Democrat on his MySpace page

'We are closer to the end of this problem than we are to the beginning.' HENRY PAULSON, U.S. Treasury Secretary, on the country's economic troubles, as the credit crisis enters its ninth month

'I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year.' DANA PERINO, White House spokeswoman, speaking a day before the fifth anniversary of the "mission accomplished" announcement that has become a symbol of U.S. overconfidence in Iraq

'I can happily switch to margarine.' TSUYOSHI HASHIMOTO, of Japan's Agriculture Ministry, after the government ordered Japanese dairies to increase butter production up to 20% because of a shortage of the popular staple

'I know there will be many whose pencils hovered for an instant before putting an X in my box, and I will work flat out to repay and to justify your confidence.' BORIS JOHNSON, British journalist turned politician, after defeating incumbent Ken Livingstone in London's mayoral election

'He's always had a crush on me.' HILLARY CLINTON, on conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who called for Republicans to vote for Clinton as a way of keeping Democrats divided

MORE OF THE BEST QUOTES AT TIME.COM For more daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: Boston Globe; Bloomberg; AP (2); Guardian; New York Times