Quotes of the Day: ‘The goal is not to win a popularity contest or to get an award’

"The goal is not to win a popularity contest or to get an award — even one as esteemed as the Nobel Peace Prize. The goal is to advance American interests, make ourselves a continuing force for good in the world. Something that we have been for decades now. And if I'm successful in those tasks then hopefully some of the criticism will subside, but that’s not really my concern. And if I'm not successful then all the praise and the awards in the world won't disguise that fact." – President Obama in Oslo, accepting the Nobel Prize for Peace

"They were U.S. nationals. One was from Egypt, one was from Algeria, one was from Ethiopia, but they had US passports, valid passports, with valid Pakistani visas and two of them were Pakistani-born Americans. And they were here for jihad, and they had left a videocassette back there for their parents that they have left for jihad and they won't be back, so we suppose that  they were here for somebody's bad activities, and by the grace of Allah (inaudible) police and Sargodha police arrested them." — Usman Anwar, Police Officer, Pakistan’s Sargodha District, on the detention of several Americans

“They masqueraded on White House grounds, shook hands with the president and then went on national television to talk about it. Now Tareq and Michaele Salahi say they intend to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate themselves when faced with congressional subpoenas to testify under oath.” — ABC’s John Parkinson

“She will resist writing something sarcastic, since this will be recorded for the future.” — President Obama, on what his wife was signing in the official book for Nobel Prize winners