Verbatim

'We have two 7-year-olds we're going to have to answer to someday ... We've done what we thought we had to do. With integrity and grace, hopefully.'

VALERIE PLAME, outed CIA operative, whose memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, came out on Oct. 22

'I can't look at anything to do with childbirth. It absolutely disgusts me.'

HELEN MIRREN, Oscar-winning actress, recalling a sex-education film she found so revolting as a teenager that she determined never to bear children

'As long as I can remember, the imperial family's been, like, one big ball of stress.'

PRINCE TOMOHITO, cousin of Japan's Emperor Akihito, attributing his battle with alcoholism to the pressures of belonging to the royal family

'If we have the ability to send a satellite to the moon, why is it so difficult to send all corrupt officials to prison?'

WU MINGFA, a farmer from Xichang, China, where the nation's first orbiter launched on Oct. 24

'When you see a Medal of Honor, you know whatever they went through is pretty horrible. You don't congratulate anyone when you see it.'

MARCUS LUTTRELL (right), the sole surviving member of a Navy SEAL squad caught in a firefight with the Taliban; on Oct. 22, President George W. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor to the family of Lieut. Michael Murphy, who gave his life to make a radio call for help for his team

'Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently.'

DICK CHENEY, on whether he minds his nickname

MORE OF THE BEST QUOTES AT TIME.COM For daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: USA Today; Telegraph; International Herald Tribune; South China Morning Post; CBS; Wall Street Journal