Verbatim

"I did have a little thing of Neosporin that they didn't catch."
DEBBIE COX, U.S. passenger who flew to Denver last week, on heightened airport security that barred any liquids on board

"I will respectfully say, 'No, no, no.' I am in this race to the end."
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, U.S. Senator from Connecticut, refusing to call off his campaign for re-election after losing the Democratic primary to political unknown Ned Lamont. Lieberman, who will run as an independent, has lost support over his backing of the U.S. war in Iraq

"Please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate."
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, Iranian President, in an interview with Mike Wallace, on George W. Bush's failure to answer an 18-page letter he sent in May criticizing U.S. foreign policy

"He's very, very short, but he's comfortable in his own skin."
MIKE WALLACE, after interviewing Ahmadinejad

"The relationship ... is like that of a married couple who have no love at all, but still live in the same house."
SONG DAE JUNG, South Korean political analyst, on relations between Seoul and Washington. Last week the longtime allies announced steps to reduce the role of the U.S. military in South Korea, where American troops have been stationed since the 1950s

"It had to come out finally."
GUNTER GRASS, Nobel-prizewinning German author and peace activist, after admitting that he had served in Hitler's élite Waffen SS; he told a German newspaper it had been weighing heavily on his mind

"Your call cannot be completed, because the subscriber has been bombed or kidnapped."
PHONE MESSAGE popular among mobile-phone users in Baghdad. Cell-phone subscriptions in Iraq have boomed, increasing from 1.4 million in 2003 to more than 7 million today