“In the jubilation of the moment, the rules didn’t hold.”

– Bennett K. Hatfield, chief executive officer of the International Coal Group, which owns the mine in Sago, W.Va., where 13 trapped miners’ loved ones were told at one point that 12 had been found alive, when only one came out alive.

“If I were on Capitol Hill, I would be shaking in my boots. Because if anyone knows where the skeletons are buried, it’s Jack Abramoff.”

– Dallas lawyer Bill Mateja, previously a Justice Department official in the Bush administration, commenting on the expectation that as part of lobbyist Abramoff’s plea bargain, he will help federal lawyers prosecute members of Congress.

“I can’t find any place in the nation that’s doing this – or in the world, for that matter – but why not?”

– Idaho Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs, about his proposal to require Idaho prison inmates to sleep in shifts to ease overcrowding and keep prison work facilities operating around the clock.

“You guys are good.”

– Bank robbery suspect Thomas R. Fricks, as quoted by Spokane police who arrested him minutes after a South Hill holdup in which a teller included a Global Positioning System device in the cash that was put in the bandit’s duffel bag.

“These rovers are living on borrowed time. We are so past warranty on them.”

– Principal researcher Steven Squyres of Cornell University, marveling that NASA’s twin robots continue to function on the inhospitable Martian surface two years after beginning a mission expected to last about three months.

“We were walking in the funeral when a strange person joined the crowd. Suddenly, there was a strong blast, and we were turned upside down. I saw many legs and hands flying all over the place.”

– Mourner Amer Khazim, describing a terrorist attack that killed 32 people attending the funeral in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, for a 14-year-old boy killed during an assassination attempt on his politician uncle.

“We’ve epitomized the word ‘inconsistent’ for professional basketball.”

– Seattle SuperSonics general manager Rick Sund, after the team fired Coach Bob Weiss, who had led the defending division champion Sonics to a 13-17 record at the time of his dismissal.

“I’ve lost half of me.”

– Weight-loss success story Crystaldawn Verhaeghe, who has shed 225 pounds in the past year and a half through exercise and healthier eating.

“I thought they loved them more than us.”

– Nine-year-old Joshua Calero, a California boy left in charge of himself and his 5-year-old autistic brother when his father and stepmother left town to celebrate New Year’s, leaving the children alone but arranging care for the puppies they gave each other for Christmas.