Yale University librarian Fred Shapiro released his eighth annual list of the top quotes of the year. This time around, the quotes reflect a theme of change, he said.
President Barack Obama's acknowledgement that his promise that Americans could keep their health insurance plan turned out to be inaccurate was named the year's best quote. Other notable quotes include Pope Francis urging the Catholic Church to downplay hot-button issues, like abortion; a Republican governor insisting on changes in his party; and a Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taliban calling for a campaign against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford became the first Canadian to make the list with his admission he smoked crack cocaine.
Listen below to our montage of all the notable quotes of the year, uttered from their sources' mouths:
President Barack Obama, November 14, 2013, during a news conference:
With respect to the pledge I made that if you like your plan you can keep it: the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate.
David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, April 20, 2013, in remarks to a crowd at Fenway Park after a memorial service for Boston Marathon bombing victims:
This is our f——-g city. And nobody is going to dictate our freedom.
Pope Francis, in an interview published on September 19, 2013:
We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage, and the use of contraceptive methods. It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.
Malala Yousafazai, a Pakistani schoolgirl who campaigns for girls' education, July 12, 2013, in a speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly:
So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism; let us pick up our books and our pens; they are the most powerful weapons.
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, June 8, 2013, in a broadcast interview, describing his Senate committee hearing testimony denying that the NSA collects data on Americans:
I responded in what I thought was the most truthful or least untruthful manner, by saying, "No."
Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, January 24, 2013, in a speech at the Republican National Committee winter meeting:
We've got to stop being the stupid party. ...It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults.
Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto, November 5, 2013, in remarks to reporters:
Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. Have I tried it? Um, probably, in one of my drunken stupors.
Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, December 21, 2012, in a news briefing:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
Edward Snowden, former National Security Agency contractor, in an interview published on June 9, 2013:
I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy, and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, in the title of a book published in 2013:
Lean In.
This report contains information from The Associated Press.
