"She stated she wanted to know what it felt like." – Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. David Rice, quoting 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamente's reasoning for strangling, stabbing and slashing the throat of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten (The Associated Press, Thursday)

"People here feel like that he made a mistake in using a Taser, and maybe he did." – Ozark, Ark., Mayor Vernon McDaniel, describing local reactions to Officer Dustin Bradshaw's use of a Taser to subdue a 10-year-old girl who had screamed and resisted when her mother tried to get her to take a shower (The Associated Press, Thursday)

"What is the logic in repaying government loans with taxpayer dollars?" – Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on General Motors dipping into a $16.4 billion government-created contingency fund to begin settling a previous government debt (The Associated Press, Monday)

"We're going to home schooling. He can learn more without the distraction of what to wear." – Cindy Pope, whose son, Seth Chamlee, a student at Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, was sent home for wearing skin-tight "skinny pants" in violation of a district dress code (The Dallas Morning News, Thursday)

"We don't allow striped shirts or check shirts. There are certain types of clothes that are not acceptable dress style." – Laura Jobe, Mesquite school district spokeswoman (The Dallas Morning News, Thursday)

"You seem to be saying that because 40 percent of our population is Hispanic, then 40 percent of all of the historical characters need to be Hispanic." – Texas State Board of Education member Pat Hardy, addressing a complaint by State Rep. Norma Chavez that only 16 of the 162 historical figures taught in public school history, government and social studies courses are Hispanic (The Dallas Morning News, Thursday)

"To be honest with you, we have had very few cases of people trying to exploit rights on other planets." – Lynne Hale, spokeswoman for Lucasfilm, explaining a new trend in showbiz contract-writing that gives production companies the right to use material "throughout the universe" (The Wall Street Journal, Thursday)

"There are some people in the United States who said this shooting has nothing to do with Islam, that it was not permissible under Islam. But I would say it is permissible. ... America was the one who first brought the battle to Muslim countries." – Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, on the shooting rampage at Fort Hood. (The Washington Post, Monday)

"This is not a decision that I would have made. I think terrorism isn't just attack; it's anxiety, and I think you feel the anxiety and frustration of New Yorkers who took the bullet for the rest of the country." – New York Gov. David Patterson, on the Obama administration's decision to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists to New York for trial (WCBSTV.com, Tuesday)