Quotables

"It was like being buried alive, really removed from the world."

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, released last week by Palestinian militants, on being held captive for 16 weeks. He told reporters that other than being in solitary confinement he was rarely mistreated by his captors.

"It doesn't matter how big and strong you are. Over a period of time, the game wins."

Former college and NFL star running back Tony Dorsett on former power running back Earl Campbell, who was honored last week by the Heisman Winners Association. The 52-year-old Campbell's legs are in such bad shape now that he has to use a walker.

"$557,000"

The price paid at a London auction last week for a love letter that Napoleon wrote to his lover Josephine before their marriage. A bidding war upped the price to more than five times the letter's estimated value of $100,000. The auction also fetched $411,000 for a manuscript written by Isaac Newton.

"I guess he thought I was an easy mark."

Bill Barnes, 72, of Walker, Mich., on a thief who tried to steal $300 from his front pocket while he was inside a gas station. Barnes, a former Marine and Golden Gloves boxer, landed several punches and stopped the thief before a store manager intervened and called police.