Quotables

"It makes me think all that stuff that I had isn't really as important as I thought it was."

New Orleans resident Rusty White on managing to be "in good spirits" even though he lost almost everything he owned during the post-Katrina flood.

"I've been a thug since 1966, and this feels good."

Convicted armed robber James Cox, after becoming a first responder in Hurricane Katrina. The 53-year-old, under supervision, helped fellow Louisianans at a shelter and said, "When people come up and you look into their faces and see all the sadness, and then they thank you like you are the one giving this stuff to them, it makes you tear up."

"Just as good, if not better, than the South Beach Diet."

Barbara Hoover, resident of the Faubourg-Marigny neighborhood in New Orleans, on the military's ready-to-eat meals that she's consumed in the past two weeks.

"Athletic looting."

NCAA president Myles Brand's description of attempts by college football and basketball teams to lure student-athletes away from hurricane-ravaged schools, such as Tulane University. Mr. Brand said the NCAA rule that transfers must sit out a year would still apply in such situations.