Verbatim

"If I were grading, I would say we probably deserve a D or a D+ as a country." DONALD RUMSFELD, Defense Secretary, on how the U.S. is faring against terrorists' extremist ideology in the global "battle of ideas"

"Iran is a country that is allergic to pressure and threats and intimidation." JAVAD ZARIF, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution urging Iran to suspend its uranium-enrichment activities within 30 days or else face further action from the international community

"You're on 105th floor. Wow. Any injuries? Just hold on one second, sir. Hold on ... Don't worry, God is there." 911 OPERATOR, answering an emergency call from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, in a partial recording--the people inside the WTC cannot be heard--released last week

"There is only one way to reduce unemployment in France: you have to explain to the French people that they have to work harder." NICOLAS SARKOZY, French Interior Minister, on the proposed liberalization of employment law that has sparked more than two weeks of mass protests across France

"You guys have become the Jews of the 21st century." MICHAEL HOROWITZ, senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, to Evangelicals at a War on Christians conference, which focused on the impact of perceived attacks by liberals

"A hungry man is an angry man." AZIZ DWEIK, new Speaker of the Hamas-led Palestinian Parliament, warning Israel of potential consequences from its decision to withhold the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority

"No, I done learned my lesson. The hard way." RANDAL MCCLOY JR., Sago Mine survivor, at a press conference before going home from a rehab center last week, on whether he would return to mining

"I could make Basic Instinct 16. If guys will keep thinking I'm hot, I might turn it into a TV series." SHARON STONE, actress, at the premiere of Basic Instinct 2, on the possibility of expanding the nudity-filled movie franchise

Sources: AP; New York Times (3); Washington Post; New York Times; Los Angeles Times; USA Today