Verbatim: Mar. 7, 2005

“This act harms our interests, our path and our goals, and we will not hesitate for a minute to track them down, bring them to justice and punish them.” –MAHMOUD ABBAS, Palestinian leader, vowing to find those responsible for the suicide bombing near a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed four and ended a relative lull in Israeli-Palestinian violence

“This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table.” –PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, speaking to European allies at NATO and E.U. headquarters in Brussels

“I have come to realize that personal relationships are more important than history.” –DOUG WEAD, in a letter to Chris Matthews, host of TV’s Hardball, following the outcry over Wead’s release to journalists of secretly recorded conversations he had with Bush before he was elected President

“We have moved a mountain.” –RIFAAT EL-SAID, leader of the opposition Tagammu Party, on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s announcement that this fall, for the first time since he took office in 1981, multiple candidates will be allowed to run in a presidential election

“I don’t believe steroids can help you, help hand-eye coordination, technically hit a baseball. I just don’t believe it, and that’s just my opinion.” –BARRY BONDS, slugger for the San Francisco Giants, who has been linked to Major League Baseball’s steroid scandal but continues to evade the question of whether he has used the drugs

“Many of them don’t say who they are anymore because the culture has said it’s not socially acceptable to be a Democrat.” –HOWARD DEAN, new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, asserting the country has plenty of “silent” Democrats

“I’m so overexposed, I’m making Paris Hilton look like a recluse.” –BARACK OBAMA, recently elected Democratic Senator from Illinois

Sources: ABC News; Associated Press (3); New York Times; Kansas City Star; Washington Post