Quotables

"Irreparable in the immediate future."

Chandra Johnson, assistant to the president of the University of Notre Dame, on the damage done to the University's reputation after it fired football coach Tyrone Willingham after only three years. Ms. Johnson shaved her head to protest the firing and vows to keep it shaved until the Fighting Irish win a national championship.

"Throw some religion in and be done with it."

Jim Basey, president of the Downtown Denver Partnership, quoting a director of the city's Parade of Lights, a pre-Christmas event that had rejected one church's request to have a Christ-themed float. After protests, parade directors are now reconsidering their Santa-only policy.

"As close fitting as lips and teeth."

Shaanxi Province farmers, in a petition to Beijing officials, on the relationship between Chinese farmers and the land. The farmers lost a two-year fight when Communist officials seized the rural areas for commercial development, paying farmers $60 per parcel.

"Intelligence must have been involved."

Antony Flew, British philosopher and renowned atheist, on why he now believes in God. He says the "unbelievable complexity" of DNA has convinced him to become a deist.