Verbatim
'His anger is actually hotter than other anger. When he's being smug, he's smugger. He's emotion-plus.' JON STEWART, comedian, on the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Senator Joe Biden
'I say to the Chinese, and I say to the world, Ping-Pong is coming home.' BORIS JOHNSON, mayor of London, which will host the 2012 Summer Olympics, claiming that Britain invented table tennis
'Congress is on vacation, and they're probably soaking up the rays somewhere. We're soaking up high gas prices.' ASHLEY TYRRELL, a 26-year-old Kansan, on why she isn't traveling this Labor Day. AAA predicts the biggest decline in Labor Day travelers in eight years
'I am not afraid of these people.' SAMAK SUNDARAVEJ, Thai Prime Minister, on the estimated 30,000 protesters who denounced him as a tool of the former regime
'We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear facilities.' NORTH KOREAN SPOKESMAN, on the nation's policy reversal in response to its being on a U.S. terrorist list
'Every time it finally sank in that she had lost her husband of more than 50 years, she'd look at me sadly.' CAROL THATCHER (far right), describing how dementia has debilitated her mother, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
'I need your help.' ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, California governor, asking voters to understand his decision to raise taxes. The state has a $15 billion budget shortfall
Back & Forth:
Abortion
'Over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition.'
NANCY PELOSI, House Speaker, arguing that Catholics continue to wrestle with the question of whether human life begins at conception
'From the beginning, the Catholic Church has respected the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death.'
DONALD WUERL, Archbishop of Washington, rebuking Pelosi for misstating church doctrine
Instant Replay
'Not as long as I'm the commissioner.'
BUD SELIG, commissioner of Major League Baseball, insisting that the sport's new instant-replay system--which took effect on Aug. 28--will not be used for purposes other than to review disputed home runs
'This could turn into a little bit of a fiasco.'
LOU PINIELLA, Chicago Cubs manager, arguing that the new system will slow down the game and could be used as a tactic to disrupt pitchers' rhythms
Israel
'I don't think the settlement activity is helpful to the process.'
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State, saying a rise in Israeli construction in the West Bank undermines efforts to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians
'There's nothing to prevent strengthening settlement blocs that, at the end of the day, in a peace agreement, will clearly be in Israel's hands.'
ERAN SIDIS, Israeli Housing Ministry spokesman, defending the nation's right to build in territory it intends to keep
For daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes
Sources: Politico; The Independent; Reuters; New York Times (2); BBC; Los Angeles Times