I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks, which seem to have been planned by people for personal reasons. —Osama bin Laden

We will go after that group, that network, and those who have harbored, supported, and aided that network, to rip the network up. When we’re through with that network, we will continue with a global assault against terrorism in general.

 —Secretary of State Colin Powell on the

Osama bin Laden terror network

All over Europe, not only in London but from Paris to Madrid, from Berlin to Rome, the terrorists who struck at America have recreated the strong sense of Western solidarity loosened by the end of the cold war.

—Dominique Moisi, French international affairs scholar

The terrorists think democracies are soft. And of course they are soft most of the time. But when they get aroused they are far more resolute and harsher than an authoritarian system.

— John Keegan, British military historian

I didn’t anticipate that as a country we would become blind and just look at somebody suspiciously who looks or dresses in a certain way. Unfortunately, I thought that if that would be the case, it wouldn’t be the authorities, it would be the people, and the authorities would be there to support you. Unfortunately, it was the authorities who made that mistake.

 —Sher J.B. Singh, telecommunications consultant taken

 from a train at gunpoint, handcuffed, and questioned

 for over an hour by Providence police on September 12

If the evidence proves that the perpetrators were Muslims, their actions were no more Islamic than Timothy J. McVeigh’s actions were Christian. Nowhere in Islamic doctrine is the killing of innocent civilians condoned. The acts of a cowardly few must not be used to stereotype or generalize about a people.

 —Arsalan Tariq Iftikhar, Council

on American Islamic Relations

Countries that live under a rule of law agree on being a democracy and respect and care about human life the way the firefighters of New York City care about human life. That’s what we want. That’s the future we want for our children. That’s the future we want for the rest of the world. It’s what America has always wanted.

—New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

We were stunned and confused. We were not, however, shaken. Rather, the best of us donned hard hats and workmen’s gloves and face masks to deal with this horror as decent civilized human beings. And the rest of us supported them, applauded them, and prayed for and with them.

           —Cardinal Edward M. Egan

I notice a lot of blank stares, a lot of uncertainty. But I also see people who look at each other. I think all of us want to feel as if we’ve been going through something together. You don’t meet eyes very often in New York, and now I look into everyone’s face.

—New Yorker Ira Didner

If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you will be doing tomorrow.

—Father Mychal Judge, killed while administering last rites

to a fallen fellow New York City firefighter September 11

(Each week this column features quotations gleaned from the readings and experiences of our editors, reporters, readers, and friends. All are invited to submit quotations for inclusion here. They may be sent to Gleanings, c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470 or emailed to editor@thebee.com.)