Verbatim

'I would ask the American people to be patient. We have invested a lot. It is worth the sacrifice.'

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, Secretary of State, on the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq

'He was scared, terrified, very terrified. You know how a man feels when he is about to be executed.'

BASSAM RIDHA, adviser to Iraq's Prime Minister, describing the mood of former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan as Ramadan was being led to the gallows on the morning of March 20

'When you get cute with slogans, you get yourself into a trap.'

ESTEBAN BOVO, Hialeah, Fla., city council president, about Mitt Romney, Republican presidential contender, who asserted in a Miami speech that the slogan "!Patria o muerte, venceremos!" [Fatherland or death, we shall overcome!] belongs to a "free Cuba." The phrase is actually Fidel Castro's trademark sign-off

'We think that by end of the year you will notice a new, fresh look when you are intercepted by one of our men.'

J. MAHAPATRA, police commissioner of Ahmadabad, India, on a new fabric being developed for the city's police force that is not only lightweight but also rose and lemon scented

'It just turned out it was a bad joke. Obviously, I don't believe that.'

SCOT POLLARD, Cleveland Cavaliers center, apologizing for looking into the camera during a recent game and saying, "Hey, kids, do drugs."

'This is a benign family show loved by people of all ages and races ... There is nothing racist about it.'

BEN JONES, former Georgia Congressman who played Cooter on The Dukes of Hazzard, after former co-stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat (both singers now) had their Dukes-themed concert with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra canceled. The N.A.A.C.P. had expressed opposition to the planned show

'The clock must be stopped.'

IGOR IVANOV, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, insisting that Iran's uranium-enrichment program be suspended

'I really wanted to allow myself to rise and fall on my own merits.'

JOE HILL, author of the thriller novel Heart-Shaped Box, who revealed after 10 years of writing short stories and an unpublished novel under his pen name that he is the elder son of Stephen King

Sources: Washington Post; Miami Herald; AP; New York Times; Cleveland Plain Dealer; AP; New York Times; AP