Quotables

‘I hope that the French stay for eternity. If they leave, I will leave.’

Alou Gindou, 46, of Diabaly, Mali, after France made the town a forward headquarters for its forces. France sent troops into the West African nation last month to keep al-Qaeda out of northern Mali, a move that is reportedly very popular in Diabaly.

‘It is very clear from the testimony that Sen. Hagel will not be bringing the potato salad to the next Mensa picnic.’

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, quoting “a long-time Capitol Hill Democrat” on the performance of former Sen. Chuck Hagel at the Senate hearings for his nomination to be secretary of defense.

‘I told him I loved him. … He said, “Congratulations.”’

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, describing his post-game exchange with younger brother Jim Harbaugh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In the NFL’s first post-season game featuring brothers as opposing head coaches, Baltimore beat San Francisco 34-31.

‘The Boy Scouts of America will destroy themselves by this policy change.’

R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., as the Boy Scouts of America in early February considered a plan to allow local troops to decide whether to allow homosexual members and leaders. The plan, he said, “amounts to cowardly moral evasion.”

‘Large welfare states are not a reflection of the compassion of a society, but a provision for the lack of compassion of a society.’

Philanthropist Howard Ahmanson, on the argument that “certain societies like Canada and Sweden” are more caring than the United States because they have larger welfare states.