They said it: 2014 in quotes

2014 has been an eventful year of ups and downs, with its share of excitement, tension, anxiety and suspense; a tragicomedy of sorts. As this year draws to a close, here is a list of top 10 quotes from newsmakers around the world.

2014 has been an eventful year of ups and downs, with its share of excitement, tension, anxiety and suspense; a tragicomedy of sorts. As this year draws to a close, here is a list of top 10 quotes from newsmakers around the world.

Chant of demonstrators protesting the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson



- "Hands up! Don't shoot!" .

Hillary Clinton



- "We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt."

US President Barack Obama, while downplaying the role of military action in US global leadership during a major foreign policy address.



- "Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail."

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after resuming peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Delhi visit.



- "We have to strive to change confrontation to cooperation."

Thokozile Masipa, South African judge during sentencing of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

- "The loss of life cannot be reversed. Nothing I say or do today can reverse what happened."


HT Special | Year in Review 2014

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, on lamenting incessant cell-phone use and picture taking.

- "I am a free man and you are all slaves to your gadgets."

A man claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, leader of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian girls in April 2014.

- "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah."

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking on why his ideal acting role would be 'a baddie' in a James Bond film.

- "I think the wheelchair and the computer voice would fit the part."

Monica Lewinsky in Vanity Fair, writing for the first time about her late 1990s affair with the then US president Bill Clinton.

- "It's time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress."

Malala Yousafzai on Peshawar school attack

- "I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us."