Because I was a Republican, I was told I wasn't black enough.

Winsome Earle Sears, on the reaction in some quarters to her campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates. Voters in her majority-black district last week elected Mrs. Sears to the state legislative post.

It's still a shock that I won.

Eighteen-year-old Jeffrey J. Dunkel, on his surprise at winning election to the mayorship of Mount Carbon, Pa., (population: 100) even though he ran unopposed. The Democrat, who won with 43 votes, will receive a salary of $50 per month.

It's the money and the power, it just crushes everything.

Actor Brad Pitt, in The New York Times, on how celebrity can change people. "We get away with things that other people can't," he said. "And you start to believe the lie that you are special, that you're better than other people. You start demanding that kind of treatment. Most of the time I fight it because I know I'm going to get older and it's going to go away, but at times I succumb to it." Mr. Pitt's latest movie, Spy Game, is scheduled to be released this month.

Any misstep and you can get into trouble with these guys and have the Patriotism Police hunt you down.

MSNBC president Erik Sorenson, in The New York Times, on conservatives who criticize the television news networks' coverage of the war against terrorism.

We don't paint the White House red, white, and blue.

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, on a proposal to drape the Hollywood sign with red, white, and blue fabric for the Veterans Day holiday. Universal Studios Hollywood had offered to cover the cost of the project and return the sign to normal after Thanksgiving, but the council rejected the idea.