Quotables

"This was an innocent misunderstanding."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on the arrest and trial of Gillian Gibbons, a British teacher in Sudan who stands accused of insulting Islam for allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad. If convicted, Gibbons could face 40 lashes or six months in prison.

"You can focus on what you lost, or you can focus on what you are going to do. It's a beginning."

David Swain, 77, on plans to rebuild after a fast-moving Nov. 24 wildfire destroyed his Malibu, Calif., home and 52 other homes and forced 14,000 people to flee.

"We won't end poverty with handouts. Africans need to fight corruption and work hard."

Jobs Selasie, head of African Aid Action, arguing that high-profile aid campaigns like Live Aid and Live 8 have not helped Africa's poor.

"I kept trying to find a way to make it legitimate so I could cash it."

Jerry Mika of Draper, Utah, on receiving a check for $2,245,342 from the Utah Department of Commerce instead of the $15 check he was expecting. An employee had apparently entered a serial number instead of an amount. Mika returned the check and alerted the department to the mistake.