Quotes

"Why not a nap at work? It can't be a taboo subject."
-French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on a government-sponsored study to determine the benefits of sleeping on the job, quoted by the Associated Press, January 29

"The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed. Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask is for them to do their best per head."
-Japanese Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa on his country's low birth rate, January 27. Afterward, he said he was "sorry to call them machines."

"Brands work, and people use branded items more than they use nonbranded items, whether it's a cola or a medicine, even."
-New York Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden on plans to hand out 1.5 million free condoms a month with pro-New York City designs on the wrappers, January 25

"But I think any time we try to pass laws that say you've got to protect the kids, it's, in general, always good. So we have to find out more about it."
-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a proposal to ban spanking, January 18