Quotes

"If you had to describe the century's geopolitics in one sentence, it could be a short one: Freedom won. Free minds and free markets prevailed over fascism and communism."

–Walter Isaacson, "Person of the Century: Who Mattered and Why," in the December 31 Time

"A more suitable choice [than Hitler for Person of the Century] would be… Franklin Roosevelt….He rallied the power of free people and free enterprise to defeat fascism…. Henceforth, the national government (in the U.S. and most everywhere else) took on the duty of managing the economy."

–Isaacson, later in the same article (Time declared Albert Einstein its Person of the Century.)

"It's a little bittersweet to see it end this way….But I don't think we're out of the woods until May or June. Plenty of computer problems can turn up between now and then. "

–Dennis Olson, a 41-year-old electrical engineer and computer consultant, reflecting on the $20,000 he spent on food, water, medical supplies, and a generator in preparation for Y2K chaos, in the January 2 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel