Verbatim

"This too will pass."

DONALD RUMSFELD, Secretary of Defense, predicting that calls from retired generals for him to step down will fade away

"You, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, and I'm a friend of Microsoft. I am dealing with the operating system produced by Microsoft every day."

HU JINTAO, President of China, to Bill Gates at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., at the start of a U.S. visit last week

"It almost makes me want to run for office. Almost."

DICK CHENEY, U.S. Vice President, in response to his warm reception by Republican donors at a fund raiser in Washington State

"Our stockholders and our owners knew exactly what they needed to know."

JEFFREY SKILLING, former Enron CEO on trial for conspiring to defraud shareholders, responding to charges that he lied to investors

"I would like to visit my parents' graves and to see cherry blossoms."

ISHINOSUKE UWANO, Japanese soldier who fought the Soviets in World War II and had been listed among the dead before returning last week to Japan for the first time since 1943. He has been living in Ukraine and said he was prevented from leaving until recently

"The use of condoms can, in certain situations, be a lesser evil."

CARLO MARIA CARDINAL MARTINI, retired Archbishop of Milan, arguing that "everything is needed to combat AIDS," a stance that contravenes the Vatican's opposition to artificial contraception

"He came to me with the wad of money and said, 'This probably belongs to someone that you work with. Can you return it?'"

SHERRY WESLEY, an employee at a Santa Ana, Calif., civic building to whom a homeless man handed a wallet with $900 that he had found in a nearby trash bin. Wesley tracked down the owner, who rewarded the man with $100

"When Mama's not happy, nobody's happy."

EDWARD LAUMANN, University of Chicago sociologist who led an international study that found relationships based on equality led to more sexual satisfaction for both genders

Sources: New York Times (2); Seattle Times; Chicago Tribune; AP; L'Espresso; AP (2)