Quotables

"God doesn't ride elephants or donkeys."

Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, speaking at a Texas conference of black pastors on the need for black and white evangelicals "to rise above partisan politics."

"Children should not be permitted to be the testing ground for their parents' faith or secular views if it's going to result in their death."

Marci Hamilton, a professor at Cardozo Law School, on the prosecution of Jeffrey D. and Marci Rae Beagley of Oregon City, Ore., after the death of their son from a condition that doctors say was easily treatable. The Beagleys belong to the Followers of Christ Church, which rejects medical treatment for illnesses.

"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army."

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, commander of Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade, on what he sees as the goal of multinational forces in Afghanistan.

"Everyone thought it was a miracle."

Anna, a resident of Marino, Italy, after wine began flowing through the pipes of homes. Plumbing problems had diverted the wine from its intended ­fountains at a grape festival.

"I was probably having a Joe Biden moment myself."

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., after telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden "has a tendency to talk forever and sometimes say things that are kind of stupid."

"Mugabe was a teacher himself. He knows the potential of teachers as agents for change."

Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, on the government's move to shut down schools for the 2008 year.