Verbatim

'People are at least as smart as goats. Now one of the ways I keep those goats in the fence is I electrified them. Once they got popped a couple of times, they quit trying to jump it.' TRENT LOTT, Republican Senator from Mississippi, on how to deal with illegal immigration at the border

'Was it wrong to try to get the city back on its feet as quickly and as safely as possible? Absolutely not. We weren't going to let the terrorists win.' CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, on allegations that she misled New Yorkers about the safety of the air in lower Manhattan after 9/11

'Thanks be to God, now I'm leaving.' ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID, known as Chemical Ali, on receiving his death sentence. A cousin of Saddam Hussein's, he was found guilty of orchestrating deadly gas attacks on Kurds in 1988

'This is green imperialism.' NOR MOHAMED YAKCOP, Malaysia's Deputy Finance Minister, arguing that developed countries are hypocritical in complaining about China's greenhouse-gas emissions while taking advantage of the country's cheap labor

'I don't know why someone else's marriage has anything to do with me. I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage.' ELIZABETH EDWARDS, wife of former Senator John Edwards, at a news conference before San Francisco's annual Gay Pride Parade, putting her at odds with her husband's official stance

'I'm LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game.' BARACK OBAMA, Democratic Senator from Illinois, comparing himself to NBA star LeBron James, as quoted in the new biography Obama: From Promise to Power

QUOTES AT TIME.COM

For more daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: Sun Herald; AP; New York Times; AP (2); politicalwire.com