Verbatim

'I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone.' DICK CHENEY, former U.S. Vice President, explaining his support for gay marriage

'It was like living a lie.' OSEL HITA TORRES, the boy identified by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of a Tibetan spiritual leader, on his decision to abandon the Buddhist order

'Here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with--dare I say it--joy.' MICHAEL MOORE, Michigan native and director of the 1989 anti-GM documentary Roger & Me, after the automaker filed for bankruptcy on June 1

'You're a disgrace.' MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, New York City mayor, responding to a reporter who asked if the improving economy undercuts the billionaire's justification for seeking a third term

'If anything surprises me, it's that it took them so long.' KAISER KUO, a Beijing-based blogger, on the Chinese government's blocking access to websites like Twitter two days before the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square

'I never thought that Kim Jong Il was human and thus mortal.' OH YEON-JONG, a North Korean defector, after American and South Korean officials confirmed that the ailing dictator had chosen his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to succeed him

'It was needless hugging ... It wasn't a greeting. It was happening all day.' NOREEN HAJINLIAN, principal of a New Jersey middle school that has banned hugging

Back & Forth:

Supreme Court

'The entire concept of the American rule of law is blindfolded justice.' JEFF SESSIONS, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticizing Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, for her 2001 remark that a "wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences," would be better equipped to make certain decisions than a white man would

'I don't think anybody wants nine Justices on the Supreme Court who have ice water in their veins.' Senator CHUCK SCHUMER, arguing that Sotomayor was correct to say that factors like diversity and life experience can play a role in judicial rulings

White House

'I think he has to realize that flying to New York is self-indulgent. Go down to the corner bar and have a drink, a shot and a beer.' RICK SANTORUM, former Pennsylvania Senator, slamming the Obama Administration for spending an estimated $24,000 to send the President and First Lady to Manhattan for dinner and a Broadway show

'The costs are proportionate with other Presidents.' White House press secretary ROBERT GIBBS, defending the use of taxpayer money for a private social outing

LEXICON

Laodicean adj.--The word spelled by 13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar to win the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee

USAGE: "The eighth-grader won $40,000 in cash and prizes for nailing the final word--which means lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion."--CNN, May 29, 2009

For daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: AP; El Mundo; Huffington Post; Reuters; AP; New York Times (2)