Journalists talk to people all the time, and our ears are trained to pick up on that fantastic quote, a turn of phrase from powerful people or the primary actors in a story that gets right to the heart of what it is we’re writing about. As an editor I read lots of quotes in lots of stories, and a lot of them are pretty dull. But some just leap off the page or the screen, for reasons that aren’t always obvious or easily explained but are readily apparent when you see them.
Here are 21 quotes from the Washington Business Journal and other publications that I’ve curated throughout the year. I think they sum up the big stories and ongoing trends that impacted business in Greater Washington in 2013. Some of these stories are still playing out. Some I just find fascinating in the context of the niche worlds they inhabit. All got my ears to perk up.
“I’ve been isolated and ostracized. But I don’t regret it. I had to stand out on principle. Sometimes in life you just have to do that.â€
Renee Higginbotham-Brooks, a Texas lawyer and vice chairman of the board at Howard University, on a letter she wrote calling for major changes at the university
“We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.”
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, to USA Today
“If this was easy, it would have been done 26 years ago.”
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, unveiling his plan in January to eliminate the gas tax and raise the sales tax to fund transportation
“If anybody thinks differently, they have been out in Seattle trying out the new weed that’s available out there.”
Economist Stephen Fuller on the fact that federal spending will not drive the region’s economy in the future like it has in the past
“How do I put this? I had no idea what I was getting into. This was a side project. I’m not a litigator, by the way.”
Dan Ruttenberg, a tax and estate planning partner at SmolenPlevy in Vienna, who was preparing to argue his first case before the U.S. Supreme Court
“We’re going to be starved.”
Sean O’Keefe, CEO of Herndon-based EADS North America, on sequestration and its impact on government contractors
“You have the proximity to D.C. if you need it, but you have Baltimore to double for D.C. and the Maryland incentives; it’s the perfect combination.”
Jonathan Handel, an attorney at Los Angeles-based firm TroyGould PC, shedding light on why Hollywood productions often snub D.C. and shoot in Maryland
“You learn to love brunch when it’s 25 percent of your revenue.”
Chef Bart Vandaele about a meal restaurateurs typically dread
“I regret having made that comment as it has been received by some as being mean-spirited, which was not at all my intention.”
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority chief Gerald Gordon about a comment he made on why the FBI locating its headquarters in Prince George’s County would be a bad idea
“Housing is back. And what happens when housing comes back? Everybody thinks they can do this.”
Jesse Marks, a real estate broker, on speculators buying properties in Prince George’s County to flip
“The hype pendulum has touched on both extremes at this point. We have hit the most positive, we’ve hit the most negative, and we’re swinging positive right now. This is a better, stronger LivingSocial with a great deal of potential.”
Don Rainey, partner at Grotech Ventures and investor in LivingSocial, talking in April about the company’s highs and lows
“OMG. Political correctness run amok. Owner’s Suite. What is that? A timeshare?”
Reader Robin Siegerman, in a comment posted on a WBJ story about homebuilders doing away with the term “master bedroom” because of its racial and gender overtones
“This legislation may as well be called the Closed For Business Act.”
Greater Washington Board of Trade chief Jim Dinegar on a D.C. bill requiring larger retailers to offer employees a “livable wage”
“I don’t have enough money to solve the poverty of Washington, D.C. I’m never going to have that kind of money. I don’t have the money of Bill Gates. I don’t have the money of Mike Bloomberg. And I don’t have the money of Warren Buffett. I have a constrained amount of money compared to them.”
David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, to the Washington Post on how he targets his giving and who this year gave money to the National Archives, Kennedy Center, National Zoo and the Washington Monument
“I started as a teacher. I was an educator.”
Blackboard CEO Jay Bhatt — who took over one of D.C. tech’s original startups and set about refashioning the company — at Blackboard’s annual user conference in Las Vegas
“There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment.”
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos to the Washington Post, on buying the Washington Post for $250 million
“We cannot and will not let him define us.”
Booz Allen Hamilton CEO Ralph Shrader, on a conference call with analysts, in his first public comments after it was revealed that Edward Snowden, who leaked information about secret NSA surveillance programs, worked for the McLean company
“The bomb exploded right in my living room. It felt literally like the world came down.”
Lew Sosnowik, a banking analyst with Koonce Securities, reflecting on the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis
“My ELF weapon”
The words etched on a shotgun wielded by Aaron Alexis, the 34-year-old gunman who killed 12 people at the the Navy Yard in September; Alexis believed he was being controlled by low-frequency electromagnetic waves
“‘Gentrification’ is not a dirty word. I’m a gentrifier.”
Janis Hazel, advisory neighborhood commissioner representing the Benning Road Metro station area, talking specifically about a mixed-use project a nonprofit wants to build in the neighborhood and reacting generally to development pressures in some low-income D.C. neighborhoods
“I’ve learned that perseverance is a big part of the emotional wallet you have to bring to it.”
Ted Leonsis, on professional sports team ownership
