Verbatim

"This is a war of nerves. Don't be fooled by quiet. Be afraid of it." --KHALID MEHDI, fisherman from Tyre, Lebanon, during a lull in the bombings by Israel that have pounded the town, which is sandwiched between Israel and Hizballah's heartland in southern Lebanon

"Nobody wants to take any chances anymore, so if one person screams, everyone runs." --PAK ADITYA, resident of Java, Indonesia, after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake last week that sparked fears of another tsunami, just two days after a tsunami claimed at least 650 lives on the island

"Just going to make it up. I'm not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them." --GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. President, to British PM Tony Blair before his speech to leaders at last week's G-8 summit in Russia. His remark was caught by a microphone that had inadvertently been left on

"Marriage is not about love. It's about a love that can bear children." --TODD AKIN, Republican Congressman from Missouri, calling for the House to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The measure failed

"He at least wasn't hooked up to the power. It might have been pretty warm there." --KARL BEZNOSKA, owner of Houdini, a 12-ft.-long Burmese python that required surgery after swallowing a queen-size electric blanket

"Every decade has an iconic blond like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana, and right now I'm that icon." --PARIS HILTON, socialite and heiress, on her place in society

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

Sources: New York Times (2); AP; Los Angeles Times; AP; Times (London)