Quotations of the day

"He couldn't speak, but he said it with his lips ... 'I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,' because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country." — Gen. Jose Ornella on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died Tuesday.

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"No president has the right to say he is judge, jury and executioner." — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., whose 12-hour-plus filibuster blocked confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the CIA, John Brennan.

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"These are big cats that are extremely dangerous, and they placed a volunteer in the actual cage with a wild animal. That should have never happened." — Nicole Paquette, vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, after a lion killed a volunteer intern who entered its enclosure at a California exotic animal park.