This Week They Said

I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof

I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof. - US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld, who has stepped down after the ruling Republican party suffered a reversal in America's mid-term elections.

I think this is good that we have new people with new ideas coming to Washington. - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, appears to welcome the Democratic clean sweep of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Tiger kidnappings seem to be the flavour of the month. It was cash-in-transit robberies, but they are adept at changing their tactics. - A senior Garda figure amid fears of a spate of so-called "tiger kidnappings" ahead of Christmas.

If the volume of lending growth slows down, we have to ask to where do banks turn . . . It's important that banks are healthy. If they're not healthy, the implications for the real economy are quite severe. - The banks must ensure their ability to protect themselves in the event of a property market slowdown, says Frank Browne, head of the Central Bank's monetary policy and financial stability unit.

READ MORE

I've never killed anyone. I feel the wrong people are being targeted. - Fine Gael councillor Michael Fitzgerald, from Tipperary, says people who get behind the wheel after a few drinks are dealt with too harshly.

We won't do anything zany. - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern rules out a giveaway budget.

I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds to forgive, reconcile and shake hands. - A subdued Saddam Hussein pleads for forgiveness and reconciliation as he appears in court on charges of genocide.

Until such time that a young TV presenter or journalist gets a sentence from the courts for cocaine use, or a young barrister has to do community service for the possession of 'E' for his own use, or a young doctor gets an adult caution for the possession of cannabis, this market will continue to grow for there is very little consequences at present for possession. - Middle-class professionals who use cannabis and cocaine recreationally should be targeted by gardaí, says John McManus, chairman of the Bray Local Drugs Taskforce.

It was not a planned attack. It was a technical failure of the Israeli artillery. - Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert following a strike before dawn in which several artillery shells hit houses in a residential street in the town of Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, killing 18.

I cannot see a day when we will live in peace with them. - Hanine Athamna, who lost her uncle in the attack.

There is a rather unpleasant breed of poppy fascism out there - 'he damned well must wear a poppy!' Well I do, in my private life, but I am not going to wear it or any other symbol on air. - John Snow, the British newsreader, on why he declines to wear the poppy on air.  We know the science, we know the data. But what is really important is what we do. Planting a tree is something that anybody can do. - The Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai, launching a campaign to plant a billion trees next year - 32 every second - to highlight the need to tackle global warming.