Quotables

‘I’m just waiting for the frogs and the locusts to come.’

Seaside Heights, N.J., police chief Thomas Boyd, after a Sept. 12 fire destroyed the city’s boardwalk and about 80 businesses less than a year after Hurricane Sandy also destroyed much of the boardwalk area. Residents had rebuilt the area after Sandy.

‘God forgives those who obey their conscience.’

Pope Francis, in a letter to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, responding to an editorial that asked whether “the Christian God forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith.” Francis wrote: “The question for those who do not believe in God is to follow their own conscience. Sin, even for a non-believer, is when one goes against one’s conscience.”

‘To those students struggling every day and—most importantly—to those who are looking for a second chance, I have a message for you: Never give up.’

Actor Mark Wahlberg, who left school in the 9th grade, on receiving his high-school diploma after finishing an online study program. Wahlberg’s charity and a Taco Bell charity have teamed up to help adults finish their education over the internet.

‘I hope Putin has taken adequate protections. Now that he is a Russian journalist his life may be in grave danger!’

Russian chess master and political activist Garry Kasparov, in a tweet after The New York Times published an op-ed article by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

‘Players from every team danced, boys off the streets danced, balding men danced, I danced.’

American Nick Pugliese, on Afghanistan’s national soccer team winning its first international title. Pugliese, a recent college graduate, quit his telecommunications job in Kabul to play professional soccer for the team last year.