Quotable & notable

"At first it sounds like a bad joke: What if a woman, a black and a Mormon ran for president?"

--First line in an editorial of The Christian Science Monitor about the presidential bids of Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and Mitt Romeny, which the paper calls "a welcome burst of diversity"

"The idea of meditation as developing some mental skills is now coming in to replace the old notion of someone blissing out under a bongo tree."

--Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard speaking about the use of meditation for cognitive development and stress relief

"They're the only clothes I have."

--Jesuit Fr. Robert F. Drinan when asked in 1970 if he would continue wearing his black clerical suits while serving in the House of Representatives

"We are a nation of faith. It doesn't necessarily have to be mine."

--Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist minister, discussing his possible run for U.S. president

"For his optimism, he has my admiration; for his belief in our people, he has my respect; for his plan, he has my skepticism."

--Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., reacting to the President Bush's State of the Union Address

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