Disappointment
"I regret to report that there was no violence." — A TV reporter overheard by ambulance crew reporting in following the protest at One Nation's Werribee launch.
When we don't need it
"I have already indicated that we will not accept his [Mal Colston's] vote in certain situations." — Richard Alston, government deputy leader in the Senate, predicting that Colston will remain in the Senate for at least another 12 months.
No extravagance
"I worked all day, every day. There was no room for an extravagant lifestyle." — Charles Haughey, former prime minister of Ireland, after admitting he had earlier lied about receiving "gifts" of $3 million from a businessman.
Silly
The Howard government "are entitled to argue that at the last election ... they got a mandate to change. It's silly for me, or for the ACTU or the Labor Party, to argue against that fact." — Bob Hawke. (In the last election, the Coalition received 46.8% of first-preference votes for the House of Representatives.)
Moments of truce?
"There is a false perception that the Howard government is constantly at war with the indigenous community." — Aboriginal affairs minister John Herron.
Paid the price
"We do not consider such a meeting with Mr Berger to have been inappropriate." — White House special counsel Lanny Davis, after a congressional committee disclosed that a Chinese-British businessman supportive of Taiwan was given a meeting with Sandy Berger, President Clinton's deputy national security adviser, after promising a campaign donation of US$100,000.
Worse luck
"Winning is a crisis situation. You have to reappraise your entire life." — The executive director of the Finnish Association for Mental Health, warning that winning the lottery can be mentally harmful.