Verbatim

'I grew up in a family that didn't know what glass ceilings were.' ANN DUNWOODY, U.S. Army lieutenant general, on her nomination to be the first female four-star general in the nation's history

'Look, I saw the film like everybody else did and I was--horrified is much too nice a word.' MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, New York City mayor, on surveillance footage of a woman collapsing in the waiting room of a Brooklyn hospital; employees ignored her for more than an hour before realizing she was dead

'In other countries they look for the marijuana in the cigarette. Here they look for the cigarette in the marijuana.' JASON DEN ENTING, manager of a coffee shop in the Netherlands, on a new public smoking ban that only prohibits tobacco

'Our Paralympic team is better than our Olympic team.' AHMED ABID HASSAN, an Iraqi wheelchair-fencing coach, on the country's high number of disabled athletes; many are war veterans

'As soon as he writes the end of the story.' WILL SMITH, saying he would like to portray Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in a movie someday

'They don't associate it with the guys we lost. That's a shame.' WILLIAM MILLER, Vietnam veteran, on the term swift boat, now synonymous with campaign smear

'It's not enough to just have a Ferrari.' ABDULLAH AL-MANNAEI, resident of Abu Dhabi, on Arab businessmen who spend millions on single-digit license plates

Back & Forth

A Presidential Resume?

When retired General Wesley Clark disputed the relevance of John McCain's POW experience in the presidential race, he touched off a debate about what it takes to be Commander in Chief

JUNE 29

'I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.'

Wesley Clark, on why John McCain's military service doesn't make him more qualified than Barack Obama

JUNE 30

'Let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics.'

Brian Rogers, spokesman for McCain, claiming Obama planned Clark's remark

JUNE 30

'Of course he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark.'

Bill Burton, spokesman for Obama, distancing the campaign from the charge

JUNE 30

'I reject the idea that you take something like this and swift-boat it all out of proportion.'

Clark, on the media "hullabaloo," adding that he's made similar statements before

JUNE 30

'In some circles, that's just called straight talk.'

Jon Soltz, VoteVets.org chairman, praising Clark for his "blunt and honest" comments

JUNE 30

'Let's get the politics out of the military.'

Jim Webb, Virginia Senator, telling McCain's campaign to "calm down"

JULY 1

'I think it's up to Senator Obama now to not only repudiate him but cut him loose.'

John McCain, saying Obama should sever ties with Clark, though Clark doesn't hold an official role in the Democrat's campaign

For daily sound bites, visit time.com/quotes

Sources: New York Times; CNN; AP; International Herald Tribune; MTV.com New York Times; Wall Street Journal