The Crisis in a Nutshell: Quotes of the Week: The New Yorker My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition. So he, it's not something that is against gays, it's against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications." - Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon and conservative favorite Ben Carson expressing his views on gay marriage this week on Fox News's "Hannity." Traditional marriage has been around for thousands of years. Same-sex marriage is very new. I think it was first adopted in the Netherlands in 2000. So there isn't a lot of data about its effect. And it may turn out to be a - a good thing; it may turn out not to be a good thing, as the supporters of Proposition 8 apparently believe. But you want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cellphones or the Internet? I mean, we - we are not - we do not have the ability to see the future." - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito during oral arguments about California's Proposition 8. "You can read and you can study and you can talk but until you see things it doesn't become reality." - Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, commenting on a tour he and several fellow Senators took of the U.S.-Mexico border that was interrupted by the apprehension of a woman attempting to cross illegally. The notion that two months or three months after something as horrific as what happened in Newtown happens and we've moved on to other things? ...That's not who we are. That's not who we are. And I want to make sure every American is listening today." - President Barack Obama in a speech urging lawmakers to pass gun-control legislation. I know Syria needs us right now. But - enough. I give up." - Roaa Salem, a Damascus University architecture student, after a mortar round killed twelve of her peers and injured twenty-nine more. "We could take that four hundred dollars per shotgun and give it to these people so they could go buy groceries, pay rent, pay their utility bills, something useful. ... Vigilantism is not the answer." - Tucson neighborhood association president Cindy Ayala on a plan to give away shotguns for free in the highest-crime areas of the city. As Princeton women, we have almost priced ourselves out of the market. Simply put, there is a very limited population of men who are as smart or smarter than we are. And I say again - you will never again be surrounded by this concentration of men who are worthy of you." - Princeton University graduateSusan Patton, in a letter to the editor of the Daily Princetonian telling current female students to find a husband on campus while they're in school. "They do not come to this country to hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials. ... The comments used by Rep. Young do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse, or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity." - Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, criticizing Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, for using the term "wetbacks" to describe migrant farmworkers in an interview with an Alaskan radio station. It's like the Oklahoma land rush for an hour. We encourage people to use multiple phones and to dial and dial and dial." - Legal Aid lawyer Russell Overby on a Tennessee program in which a hotline is opened two nights a year to those who cannot afford health care but do not qualify for Medicaid.