Verbatim

'Never forget: The press is the enemy. The Establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy.' RICHARD NIXON, talking to National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger in 1972 in a taped Oval Office conversation released for the first time by the Nixon Library

'We are not prepared to sign a suicide agreement that causes small island states to disappear.' SELWIN HART, Barbados delegate to the United Nations, calling for tougher U.N. policies in fighting global warming

'It's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds.' SEAN AVERY, NHL player, on the relationship between Calgary Flames' Dion Phaneuf and Avery's ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert. He was suspended indefinitely for the remark

'If I say hi and you say hi back, we're probably off to a good start.' ALEC GREVEN, the 9-year-old author of How to Talk to Girls, dispensing dating advice

'Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words.' ELLIE BERHUN, shopper, after customers at a Walmart in suburban New York trampled a storeworker to death on Black Friday

'If I am healthy, God willing, I will be with you until 2019, until 2021.' HUGO CHAVEZ, Venezuelan President, on seeking a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for re-election

'I think I was unprepared for war.' GEORGE W. BUSH, outgoing President, lamenting the faulty intelligence used to build support for invading Iraq

Back & Forth:

Media

'This is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were generated in the course of the campaign--no, I understand--and you're having fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.'

President-elect BARACK OBAMA, after nominating Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, dismissing a journalist's question about political differences

'How silly of that reporter to dare ask you, Mr. President-elect, how it is that you completely mocked Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience just a few months ago.'

CNN anchor CAMPBELL BROWN, calling Obama's response a clever way to avoid answering a legitimate question

White House

'I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity.'

Artist DEBORAH LAWRENCE, on being asked to create an ornament for the White House Christmas tree; her ornament features tiny text saluting efforts to impeach George W. Bush

'It really is a shame and, quite frankly, not very much in the holiday spirit.'

SALLY MCDONOUGH, spokeswoman for Laura Bush, announcing that the First Lady had changed her mind about hanging the handmade ornament

LEXICON Google

Cyberchondriac n.--Someone who needlessly fears the worst after using the Internet to self-diagnose an ailment

USAGE: "Health information online is breeding a generation of cyberchondriacs." --BBC, Dec. 1, 2008

Sources: AP; Reuters; AP; Bloomberg; New York Times; BBC; ABC News

For daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes