Quotes.

"This is the price of preparedness. It's going to cause some delays and slow the progress of other public-health programs ..."

--DR. ED THOMPSON of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on meeting the demands of the nation's smallpox vaccination program. (The New York Times, Jan. 5)

"When you see 25 percent of the screens playing solitaire, besides its being distracting, you feel like a sucker for paying attention."

--IAN AYRES, professor at Yale Law School, on inappropriate student computer use during class. (The New York Times, Jan. 2)

"If they kick out the inspections worm has absolutely no eyes--no cameras, no inspections."

--VICTOR D. CHA, a Georgetown University Korea expert, on North Korea's nuclear program. (The New York Times, Dec. 28)

"To me, it fools as if in some ways the tape has just started to roll again, I feel like we have been on pause for all this time ..."

--PETER WHEELWRIGHT, on finally moving back into his home across from the site of the World Trade Center, 15 months after the attacks. (The New York Times, Dec. 24)

"In life, sorrow tends to last just a little longer than joy. So we try to just touch the joy to alleviate the sorrow."

--ABDUL RAZAK RL-RLAWI, a founder and conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. (The New York Times, Dec. 26)

"It's a thunka thunka thunka highway, a working-class highway."

--Poet C. G. HANZLICEK of Fresno County, Calif., on historic Highway 99, a notoriously run-down but highly trafficked road that crosses the state's agricultural heartland. The road will undergo $1.2 billion in improvements. (The New fork Times, Jan. 6)