Winds of change
"A man cannot keep the same views all his life. It's a natural process. But I have changed profoundly only once." — Leonid Kravchuk, former leading figure in the Ukrainian Communist Party, now nationalist president of the Ukraine.
Haunted
"What haunts me is that in the 1920s Uruguay, Chile and Argentina had higher living standards than us, Britain or Australia. I keep joking that we should learn Spanish." — New Zealand Labour Party leader Mike Moore, a member of the Lange-Douglas government, whose economic policies plunged the country into deep crisis.
From New Zealand?
"Vice-Admiral Allan Beaumont, the deputy chief of the Australian Defence Force, told the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee ... that increased military exercises with Indonesia would prepare the two countries to deal with any joint threat." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 13.
Parliamentary man
"He is a 24-hour politician. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day. To my knowledge he has no private life. He has no weekend life or anything." — Bruce Lloyd, deputy to federal National Party leader Tim Fischer, on his boss.
Impartial judgment
"Having Bob Hawke on board as an ANU professor is controversial, but he will be a valuable resource — especially since he has been the architect of bits of the relevant institutional structure such as the ACTU, the micro-economic reform programs and the Accord. That latter structure needs to be examined as to whether it really did work or not." — Geoffrey Brennan, director of the ANU's Research School.
Hole in the ground
"We definitely will not be backfilling it." — Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines executive Mark Cutifani on the future of the company's five km long, one km wide, up to 500 metre deep open-cut pit that is replacing much of the Kalgoorlie town area.
Fashion tip
"Navy blue never goes out of fashion, but grey is the power colour of the '90s." — Advice to the up and coming business executive from Paul Jellard of Five Way Fusion in Paddington, Sydney.
Political art
"When I'm president, I'm going to shut the place down, padlock it and fumigate it." — Pat Buchanan, far-right opponent of George Bush for the US Republican Party presidential onal Endowment for the Arts.
Choice
British Prime Minister John "Major said the campaign would be about freedom and choice ... the Opposition leader, Mr Neil Kinnock, said the same thing." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 13.