Top 10 Quotes of 2011
Brian Greene

For the sixth consecutive year, Yale Law School's associate librarian Fred Shapiro has ranked the top 10 most memorable quotes of the year. The list is laden with citations from political leaders, specifically Republican Presidential hopefuls, and it also reflects on the growing argument over wealth inequality in America. A selection from the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, a pithy remark from Gloria Allred regarding then-presidential hopeful Herman Cain, and Steve Jobs's existential last words also appear on the list. Here's what Shapiro came up with:

1. "We are the 99 percent." -- Occupy movement

The slogan of the Occupy movement, which started in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan on September 17, is the most memorable quote of the year. Protests against corporate greed spread throughout the country in late fall, and "Occupiers" set up encampments in every major American city which inevitably led to clashes with police. The "99 percent" refers to growing income inequality in which an extremely small group, dubbed "the 1%," controls most of the country's wealth.

2. "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there -- good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for." -- 2012 Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren

Speaking in Andover, Mass., during an August campaign stop, Warren made her case that those who've done well in business owe the public a cut of their earning. Warren, a bankruptcy expert and professor at Harvard Law School, chaired the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel created to monitor the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in 2008. She is running for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts against incumbent Republican Scott Brown.

3. "My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress." -- Warren Buffett

Billionaire CEO of Berkshire Hathway argued for "shared sacrifice" from the super-rich in a New York Times op-ed on Aug. 15. In September, President Obama borrowed Mr. Buffet's idea and his name, calling for a "Buffett rule" that would levy a tax on incomes of over $1 million to offset the extension of the temporary payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits.

4. "I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." -- GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman

In an August 18th tweet, former Utah Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman embraced some scientific and environmental views that are at odds with those of the conservative base. Although many other Republican candidates have fallen in and out of the media's spotlight, Huntsman's national polling numbers have never moved higher than 5 percent.

5. "Oops." -- Texas governor Rick Perry

During a November 9th debate in Michigan, GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Perry forgot the third federal agency he would eliminate as president. Perry previously admitted that he isn't the "slickest debater," and his 55-second meltdown at the CNBC debate provided plenty of fodder for pundits.

6. "When they ask me, 'Who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan?' I'm going to say, 'You know, I don't know. Do you know?' " -- former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on October 7, Cain admitted that his foreign policy skills needed some sharpening, but that his campaign was focused on America's struggling economy. Cain bowed out of the Republican race less than two months later after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and infidelity.

7. "I am on a drug. It's called 'Charlie Sheen.' It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body." -- Charlie Sheen

In a February interview with ABC News, actor Charlie Sheen discussed his drug use. Before a meltdown earlier this year, Sheen was America's highest paid actor, raking in $1.8 million per episode of the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men. Known for his erratic behavior, Sheen reportedly went on a bender in Las Vegas this January, and he was fired from the show for ethnically insensitive comments he made about Two and a Half Menexecutive producer Chuck Lorre.

8. "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." -- Steve Jobs

The last words of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died on October 5, were reported by his sister Mona Simpson in her eulogy. Jobs was the creative visionary behind products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, and many credit him with being responsible for making Apple the largest publicly traded company in the world. An outpouring of appreciation in the press and in impromptu memorials followed his death after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer.

9. "I can't say with certitude." -- Anthony Weiner

In June, then-New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner denied that he was pictured in a lewd photograph posted on his Twitter account. After several days of media stops where he denied that he had posted the image, Weiner, to the delight of many eager headline writers, eventually admitted to posting the photograph and resigned from Congress.

10. "Instead of receiving the help that she had hoped for, Mr. Cain instead decided to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package." -- Gloria Allred

Discussing Herman Cain's alleged sexual harassment of her client on November 7, celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred jokingly described Mr. Cain's alleged behavior. Allred represented Sharon Bialek, who alleged that Mr. Cain sexually harassed her in a D.C. bar after she was let go from the National Restaurant Association and sought his help in getting a new job. Cain denied the accusations as "completely false."