Quotables

"Barack Obama has failed America."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, announcing in a June 2 speech that he would seek the Republican nomination for president.

"I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live."

Yasuteru Yamada, a retired engineer in Japan, on entering the damaged and dangerous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in order to make repairs. Yamada and other seniors have volunteered for the hazardous work because, they say, cancer from radiation exposure wouldn't develop until after they would likely die of natural causes.

"There was a policy in place that pretty much precluded our people from entering the water."

Alameda, Calif., Interim Fire Chief Michael D'Orazi, on why first responders on May 30 watched a man drown in the San Francisco Bay without helping him. The man was apparently suicidal, but D'Orazi said the department would change its policies to give firefighters more discretion in rescues.

"Once the post-quake reconstruction efforts are settled, I will pass on my responsibility to younger generations."

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in a successful effort to defeat a June 2 no-confidence motion, saying he would step down after Japan recovers from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Kan, who didn't give a timetable for his plans, has been criticized for moving slowly in response to the disaster.

"Indiana Jones is old school. We've moved on from Indy. Sorry, Harrison Ford."

Egyptologist Sarah Parcak, after satellite images revealed 17 lost Egyptian pyramids.