This list is hardly definitive, but here are some quotes from the past year that stuck in our heads, turned our heads, or left us scratching our heads:

1.  “I dare you to distinguish between a prostitute and a naked society woman.”

Henri Leclerc, lawyer for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, denying that his client knowingly cavorted with prostitutes after Strauss-Kahn was accused of being involved in a prostitution ring (The New York Times).

2.  "Naughty aggregation is analogous to pornography. You know it when you see it."

David Carr, on efforts to create a code of conduct for web aggregators (the NYT).

3.  "And I thank God I believe in God, or I would probably be enormously angry right now.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, interview at the National Archives (the NYT).

4.  "If this goes the way I want it to, I could literally be a billionaire someday. If I continue practicing law, there is zero chance of becoming what I consider wealthy."   

Stefan Baugh, a former partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman turned hedge-funder (The Washington Post).

5.  "She’s the star of the proceedings. Someone is ministering to her needs for a change. Master is choreographing all the action. . . [A]fter a long day of managing employees, making all the decisions and looking after children, a woman might be exhausted about being in charge and long to surrender control."

Phone dominatrix explaining the appeal of Fifty Shades of Grey to professional women (Maureen Dowd's column in the NYT).

 6.  "I would never do it. I am a Republican."

Political pundit and former lawyer Ann Coulter, on why she turned down posing nude for Playboy.

7.  "Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better?"

Megyn Kelly, former Jones Day associate turned Fox News anchor, querying Karl Rove on why he was refusing to accept Obama's victory in Ohio on election day.

8.  "Mr. Bowman’s prose is well-groomed, handsome, hale, and hardy. . . It is also watery and dull. . . Like a Mormon dinner party, it offers no wine or espresso, and good luck sneaking out for a cigarette." 

Dwight Garner, reviewing The Mormon People by Matthew Bowman (the NYT).

What's your favorite quote for 2012? Please share!

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Painting by Boucher of Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV of France, circa 1750.