* “Let us be clear. I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”–Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking about Russia and Ukraine at the U.N. Security Council.
* “Nie wieder Krieg” (“Never again war”). Still a familiar, pacifist strain in Germany.
* “I cannot stress this enough: We urge our private sector partners to … put in place cybersecurity defenses … that make cyber attacks harder for even sophisticated cyber actors.”–White House Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, in urging American companies to brace for potential Russian computer hacking as tensions mount along the Ukraine border.
* “Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence.”–France’s Marine Le Pen, the perennial nationalist and anti-immigrant presidential candidate.
* “Make no mistake: Sea level rise is upon us.”–Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service.
* “The thing that is different about Trump is the making-money part seems to have permeated everything. There is this appearance, at least, that he is always thinking: How can I make a profit off of this? It is wrong for influence and power in this country to be sold for personal profit.”–Former Federal Election Commission general counsel Lawrence M. Noble.
* “The Democratic Party has lost touch with all working people, including its own base.”–Democratic pollster and political strategist Stan Greenberg.
* “Ninety-eight percent of people on the Mall on Jan. 6 were white. We need better white people in the United States.”–Democratic analyst James Carville.
* Where race is concerned, eliding the truth is an American tradition.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.
* “People who worry themselves sick over sexism in language and think the government sneaks into their houses at night and puts atomic waste in the kitchen dispose-all cannot be expected to have a sense of humor. And they don’t.”–The late humorist P.J. O’Rourke.
* “Secretaries of State are, in the battle over the future of our democracy, serving on the front lines. Clearly the work that we did to successfully defend democracy in 2020 has placed us in a greater spotlight.”–Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. She and her family were confronted with protests in front of their house by armed supporters of former President Donald Trump.
* “It seems hard to believe, but there’s no visa that allows someone to settle permanently in the U.S. because they’ve started a business. … We need a true entrepreneurship visa that allows a broad scope of international talent to start a business with the security of permanent status.”–Julio Fuentes, the president, CEO and founder of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
* “It makes good business sense to include workforce and affordable housing in all of our development.”–Mayor Jane Castor.
* “This is the good stuff, guys. This is the one you fight over.”–Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, on announced plans by Amazon to build a $150 million, 500,000-square-foot distribution facility that will provide 500 jobs.