* “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth.”–Pope Francis.
* “No one country in a currency union can endlessly spend money at the cost of the others.”–German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble.
* “The goal of some of Greece’s partners is the humiliation of an entire nation.”–Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
* “I believe that it is now time for Republicans and the wider American business community to stop fixating on the past and embrace a new approach to Cuba.”–Carlos Gutierrez, former secretary of commerce under President George W. Bush.
* “Their model was, ‘Nobody gets Internet.’ Now their model is, ‘We’re going to bring prices down and expand access, but we are going to do it as a sovereign decision and at our own speed.'”–Ted Henken, author and chairman of Baruch College’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, on changes in Cuban Internet access.
* “The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.”–President Barack Obama.
* “I remain committed to repealing this bad law … . We need Consumer Care, not Obamacare.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.
* “This decision is not the end of the fight against Obamacare. … As president of the United States, I would make fixing our broken health care system one of my top priorities.”–Former Gov. Jeb Bush.
* “The right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy.”–U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion ruling that the Constitution protects same-sex marriage.
* “Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it gorgeous? It just restores your faith in humanity, doesn’t it?”–Nadine Smith, co founder and CEO of Equality Florida.
* “The fact is, she (Hillary Clinton) was there (Trans-Pacific Partnership) when this thing was launched and she was extolling it when she left. She’s in an obvious vise, between the work that she endorsed and was part of and the exigencies of a campaign. Obviously, her comments plainly weren’t helpful to moving this forward.”–Former Barack Obama advisor David Axelrod.
* “It’s time for a doer. I’m not running for president to be somebody. I’m running for president to do something.”–Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.
* “Our (race) problem is not all kooks and Klansmen. It’s also the cruel joke that goes unchallenged. It’s the offhand comment about not wanting those people in the neighborhood. Let’s be honest, for a lot of well meaning, open-minded white people, the sight of a young black man in a hoodie still evokes a twinge of fear.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “Everyone loves to talk about blackness, a fascinating thing. But bring up whiteness and fewer people want to talk about it. Whiteness is on a toggle switch between ‘bland nothingness’ and ‘racist hatred.'”–Nell Irvin Painter, Princeton University professor emerita of history and the author of “The History of White People.”
* “It (Confederate flag) was resurrected in the 1940s and 1950s as part of a massive resistance campaign against the civil rights movement. It wouldn’t exist in our national popular culture without this movement, when African-Americans fought for their equality, and the battle flag was recovered and redeployed as a symbol of opposition to it.”–Matthew Guterl, professor of Africana and American studies at Brown University.
* “The Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on T-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world.”–John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight.”
* “The risk of failures of surveys to reflect the facts increases with falling response rates. The risk is not always realized, but with the very low response rates now common, we should expect more failed predictions based on surveys.”–Robert M. Groves, Georgetown University provost and former director of the Census Bureau.
* “This was ‘Cool Hand Luke’ meets ‘Shawshank Redemption.'”–New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on the daring prisoner escape from Clinton Correctional Facility.
* “It’s not about retreating to our corners and scoring political points. We deserve better. As a state, we deserve better.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, speaking to the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee.
* “He (Rick Scott) promised that he would punish the constituents of those legislators who disagreed with him, and he kept his promise.”–Okaloosa County Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, on Gov. Scott’s veto motivation.
* “We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast.”–Walt Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty, in explaining why Disney has now banned selfie sticks.
* “We love Tampa as a rental market. There’s a strong rental demand there, like in Atlanta.”–Jorge Perez, founder and CEO of the Related Group, which has mid-rise residential project plans for the Tampa Tribune’s riverfront headquarters.
* “It reflects our approach to research and entrepreneurship at this university and how we really encourage helping economic development in the region.”–Paul Sanberg, USF’s senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development, on USF being ranked first in the state and 10th in the nation among universities granted patents last year.
* “(It) will anchor the new development set to transform our southern downtown waterfront. For years to come, USF and our urban core will continue to grow and flourish together.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, after Gov. Scott had left intact the $17 million state lawmakers had set aside to move USF’s Morsani College of Medicine to downtown Tampa.
* “Multifamily and hotels are very popular right now, but they are complicated. I would not be at all surprised to see it go back under contract with the same group or someone else.”–Bob McDonaugh, Tampa’s Economic Opportunity administrator, on news that the contract to sell the S.H. Kress & Co. property downtown had expired.
* “We need to exercise more in a safe environment. This does that. This also gives you an opportunity to get away without leaving home.”–Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos, on the completion of the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail.