2012 Quotes of the Year - Top Sayings of 2012

Quotes of the Week - May 15:
"His timing was perfect: As women's hair was liberated, so were their lives." -- Linda Wells, Allure magazine Editor-in-Chief, describing Vidal Sassoon, the late iconic hairstylist, as a feminist pioneer due to the haircuts he created for women in 1960s.

"It is important for me personally to go ahead and affirm that same-sex couples should be able to get married." -- Barack Obama, U.S. president, becoming the first sitting American head of state to declare his support for gay marriage.

"Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy." -- Rick Santorum, former Republican presidential candidate, endorsing onetime rival Mitt Romney.

Quotes of the Week - May 8:
"I wasn't supportive of his partying or his relationship with another girl." -- Dita Von Teese, burlesque artist, on why her marriage to rock star, Marilyn Manson, ended.

"I love British men's sense of humor and the sense of chivalry and charm. It is something that is innately part of the culture. It's not the same in America." --Cameron Diaz, actress.

"I counted that there were six girls in total. That does not seem to me to be a considerable number. Numerous young women with whom I've had sexual exchanges had the same age difference. Swinging sexual parties are about having free and consentual sex." -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former IMF chief, denying that young women only had sex with him for money.

Quotes of the Week - May 1:
"The guy was singing 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head' and it wasn't even raining. I thought it was stupid." -- Robert Redford reveals he had his doubts about his best-known film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

"When I posed naked with a dead cod the fish had more shape that I did." --Actress Greta Scacchi, aged 52.

"Call me Doctor Doctor Doctor Sir...." -- Sir Terry Wogan, who has three honorary doctorates.

Quotes of the Week - April 24:
"I would rather have my heart broken a thousand times than never love at all." -- Actress Cameron Diaz has no regrets about a string of failed relationships.

"Every day is a negotiation." --Singer Madonna on childcare.

"High heels are pleasure with pain. If you can't walk in them, don't wear them." -- Designer Christian Louboutin dismisses the idea that his shoes are too uncomfortable.

"Fornication is probably the single most likely cause of unwanted pregnancies in this country." -- Fine Gael T.D. Michelle Mulherin spells out the birds and the bees to a stunned Irish parliament.

Quotes of the Week - April 17:
"Pop singers don't eat." -- Lady Gaga loses a few fans among eating-disorder campaigners.

"I am retiring. This uterus is closing shop." --US surrogate mother Meredith Olafson, who has borne 11 children for others.

"Love your body, love yourself, run around naked." -- Actress Demi Moore's advice to her children, revealed by daughter Tallulah, 18.

"If I have a swing, I have a shot." -- Golfer Bubba Watson who beat 40-1 odds to win the Masters tournament.

Quotes of the Week - April 10:
"We better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out." -- Ann Romney, responding to criticism that her husband, US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is too stiff.

"It is...a triumph of the people, who have decided that they must be involved in the political process of this country." -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose party won 43 of 45 available parliamentary seats in landmark elections in Burma.

"You think it's tough being African-American? Try being me. Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister." -- Australian premier Julia Gillard to President Obama.

Quotes of the Week - April 3:
"This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility." -- President Obama, asking Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for space in negotiating on missile defense.

"He has on a heavenly hoodie right now." -- Sybrina Fulton, mother of Florida shooting victim Trayvon Martin, who was killed, reportedly while wearing a hooded sweatshirt, by a neighborhood watch volunteer.

"Our first reaction was to get him on the floor, strap him in, tie him up, and let's land the plane." -- David Gonzalez, traveler aboard a JetBlue flight from New York City to Las Vegas, whose pilot suffered an apparent mental breakdown and had to be restrained by passengers and crew.

Quotes of the Week - March 27:
"I am the real dictator. He has no choice." -- Asma al-Assad, wife of the Syrian president.

"I am a lucky woman because I was born with a priceless gift: the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of others." -- Dame Edna Everage, who, creator Barry Humphries has announced, is retiring.

"Who would want to be married to someone who nobody coveted." -- Charles Saatchi, advertising tycoon, art collector and husband of domestic goddess Nigella Lawson.

"Don't worry, the British prime minister is fine - I've just tucked him up in bed." -- Barack Obama to Downing Street aides aboard Air Force One, as revealed by David Cameron.

Quotes of the Week - March 20:
"Wearing jeans just makes everybody look the same." -- Fashion advice from actress Joan Collins.

"I don't much like the French." -- Gerard Depardieu, actor, saying his fellow countrymen are arrogant and smug.

"You can't turn the wind, so turn the sail." -- Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary-General and current U.N.-Arab League peace envoy, repeating an African proverb to Syrian President Bashar Assad during talks to end months of violence throughout the country.

Quotes of the Week - March 13:
"It's never been as hard as it is nowadays to be famous. Sometimes I want to have a peaceful evening with my wife in a restaurant without every few seconds having to pose for a mobile phone photograph. And increasingly people just don’t seem to understand that. Today everybody’s got a telephone with a built-in camera." -- Paul McCartney.

"She goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex. It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex." -- Rush Limbaugh, US radio host, attacking law student Sandra Fluke who advocated that health insurance in colleges cover contraception.

Quotes of the Week - March 6:
"I'll be long dead and there will still be people who say I am gay." -- Actor George Clooney says he ignores gossip about his sexuality.

"If you haven't hugged or kissed your kid in the last couple of days, take that time." -- Joe Bergant, school superintendent in Chardon, Ohio, where a shooting at Chardon High School left three students dead and two others wounded.

"You're only two years older than me, darling." -- Christopher Plummer, addressing his Oscar statuette after the 82-year-old was awarded the Best Supporting Actor trophy. He is the oldest person to win an Oscar.

Quotes of the Week - February 28:
"All comedians are probably miserable for at least 23 hours a day." -- Lenny Henry.

"I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman." -- Henri Leclerc, lawyer for former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, after Strauss-Kahn was questioned by French police for allegedly being linked to an international prostitution ring that organized sex parties.

"I have died many times. I have actually beaten Jesus Christ, because he only died once." -- Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe.

Quotes of the Week - February 21:
"Mom, gold is good!" -- English singer Adele, who won six Grammy Awards, including the prestigious trifecta of Record, Song and Album of the Year.

"It's just really unfortunate that drugs, bad people, bad influences, took over. It took over her dreams, her love and her motherhood. I'm scared of showbusiness. I'm scared of drugs. I'm scared of hanging out and that's why I don't do parties and hang out." -- Singer Celine Dion on the death of Whitney Houston.

"Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California." -- US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2.1 ruling that struck down Proposition 8, California's 2008 ban on same sex marriage, as unconstitutional.

"My boyfriend is around 6ft 4in. I guess that's why God invented high heels." -- Singer Kylie Minogue, who is 5ft.

"When I was young, I smoked my share. Enough's enough." -- Former Beatle Paul McCartney, on giving up cannabis for his eight-year-old daughter's sake.

Quotes of the Week - February 14:
"I'm like the Queen Mother of homosexuality." -- Elton John on why he would be unfraid to perform in a hardline country such as Iran.

"Conjunctivitis.com - that's a site for sore eyes." -- The one-liner that won the year's funniest joke for English comedian Tim Vine at the Loaded Laftas comedy awards.

"Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California." -- US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2.1 ruling that struck down Proposition 8, California's 2008 ban on same sex marriage, as unconstitutional.

Quotes of the Week - February 7, 2012:
"In second grade I confessed to committing adultery: I thought it meant acting like an adult." -- What actor George Clooney revealed in the confessional at the age of eight.

"In England, we obviously like spanking." -- Actress Kiera Knightley reveals that controversial scenes in her latest film 'A Dangerous Method' have attracted no interest abroad.

"I'm not concerned about the very poor." -- Mitt Romney, Republican US presidential candidate, suggesting they can manage on the benefits safety net.

Quotes of the Week - January 31:
"My body is a temple, and my temple needs redecorating." -- Comedian Joan Rivers explains why, at 78, she's having more plastic surgery.

"I get up, drink my usual four coffees, have a look at the obituaries in The Times and, if I'm not in them, I'll get on with the day's work." -- Patrick Moore, astronomer, on his morning routine.

"I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more." -- Mitt Romney, Republican US presidential candidate, whose tax returns revealed he paid a 14% effective tax rate on income of more than $42m over past two years.

Quotes of the Week - January 24:
"I gotta thank everybody in England that let me come and trample over their history." -- Meryl Streep, accepting her eighth Golden Globe Award for best actress in a Drama for playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

"Listen, Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea, but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Damn it, go back on board." -- Gregorio De Falco, Italian coast guard official, excoriating Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino, who abandoned ship after the cruise liner ran aground, killing 32 people, including those missing and presumed dead.

"Can you believe I can still breastfeed after 16 boob jobs?" -- English glamour model Alicia Douvall, discovers the joys of motherhood.

Quotes of the Week - January 17:
"Our campaign is about more than replacing a President. It is about saving the soul of America." -- Mitt Romney, Republican US presidential hopeful, after winning New Hampshire primary.

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down to your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up." -- Professor Stephen Hawking on his 70th birthday.

"American children had never seen a moving bosom before." -- Actress Celia Imrie on the alarm caused by her low-cut dress in Nanny McPhee.

Quotes of the Week - January 10:
"Women are a complete mystery." -- Professor Stephen Hawking.

"I've actually never liked sports, and I never understood how I became an athlete." -- Serena Williams, four times Wimbledon champion.

"Shakespeare obviously enjoyed sex with men as well as women." -- Ian McKellen, claiming The Merchant of Venice proved the Bard was gay.

"Yay!!! Me husband is a big hairy caveman an' came to claim me with his club." -- Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, reveals her marriage, which was off after 16 days, is now back on.

Quotes of 2012
Quotes of 2011
Quotes of 2010
Quotes of 2009
Quotes of 2008
Quotes of 2007
Quotes of 2006