US

Yale List: The Year‘s ’Top Quote’ Is…‘We Are the 99 Percent’

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The growing scrutiny of the rich dominated this year’s best quotes, according to a Yale University librarian who anointed the Occupy Wall Street protesters’ slogan — “We are the 99 percent” — as the year’s best.

Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, has released his sixth annual list of the most notable quotations of the year.

Shapiro noted that the conservative tea party movement was prominent in last year’s quotes.

“The tea party quotes are very strongly anti-government,” Shapiro said. “The Occupy quotes and the other more liberal quotes that you see at the top of the list this year are directed more at Wall Street and the upper 1 percent economically of the country rather than focus squarely on government.”

The original “Yale Book of Quotations” was published in 2006. Since then, Shapiro has released an annual list of the top 10 quotes that would be incorporated into the next edition.

Shapiro picks quotes that are famous, important or revealing of the spirit of the times, not necessarily ones that are the most eloquent or admirable.

The “We are the 99 percent” slogan stems from a movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed. Protests began with the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Manhattan in September and have spread around the country.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett made the list for his complaint that rich people pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than middle-class taxpayers. His op-ed prompted President Barack Obama to suggest that a minimum tax be imposed on millionaires.

And Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat running for Senate in Massachusetts, made the list with her remarks that the rich didn’t do it on their own.

While the super-rich were in the crosshairs of this year’s top quotes, bumbling politicians made their usual strong showing.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry came in 5th with his “oops” comment at a debate last month. On the Democratic side, former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York placed 9th with his “I can’t say with certitude” when asked whether a lewd photograph was in fact of him.

The list:

1. “We are the 99 percent.” — slogan of Occupy movement.

2. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.” — U.S. Sen. candidate Elizabeth Warren, speaking in Andover, Mass., in August.

3. “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress.” — Billionaire Warren Buffett, in a New York Times op-ed on Aug. 15.

4. “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” — Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman in an Aug. 18 tweet.

5. “Oops.” — Presidential candidate Rick Perry after unsuccessfully attempting to remember the third federal agency he would eliminate during a Nov. 9 debate.

6. “When they ask me, ‘Who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan?‘ I’m going to say, ‘You know, I don’t know. Do you know?’” — Then-presidential candidate Herman Cain in an interview by Christian Broadcasting Network on Oct. 7.

7. “I am on a drug. It‘s called ’Charlie Sheen.‘ It’s not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.” — Actor Charlie Sheen in a February interview with ABC News.

8. “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” — Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ last words on Oct. 5, as reported by his sister Mona Simpson in her eulogy.

9. “I can’t say with certitude.” — Then-U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner on June 1 when he was asked whether a lewd photograph was in fact him.

10. “Instead of receiving the help that she had hoped for, Mr. Cain instead decided to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package.” — Lawyer Gloria Allred on Nov. 7 discussing Herman Cain’s alleged sexual harassment of her client.

Comments (39)

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  • possom
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 6:10pm

    Next yr’s quote is going to be “we are the 99% now shut up hippie before you meet my new shotgun”!

    Report Post » possom  
  • mikester8888
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 12:03pm

    There was a time when most Americans would have been thrilled to have thier son or daughter go to Yale. Now its been reduced to nothing but a standard joke on society. If your not gay or liberal there your an outcast. They dont know whether to punt or recieve. Hell, they probably do both!

    Report Post »  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 1:41pm

      The professional left is now playing Christ and trying to raise the dead. OWS is dead yet the professional left keeps trying to prop it up and make it move again. What you will see is a facsimile of it rise again just in time for the elections next year. Public opinion has hardened against OWS no matter what he professional left does it cannot rehabilitate OWS in the public eye. We do however need to take back our schools. The left has played it’s games there for too long.

      Report Post »  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 3:53pm

      It is interesting that “We are the 99 percent” is the top slogan, but what is laughable is the fact that it has been selected by an Ivy League school. There may be some 99%ers there but guaranteed that the majority of students are in the 1%, and these schools are definitely supported by the 1%. Add to that, Vasser, MIT and the other heavy weight institutions, and they are more responsible for this mess than the banks. And then there is Barney Frank and Chris Dobb – go set up tents and porta pottys on their lawns, they were the ones who assured everyone that Fannie and Freddie were just fine. Liars, cheats and thieves, and still not in jail. Maybe Barney’s boyfriend will share his wealth, ya think?

      Report Post »  
  • BetterDays
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 11:09am

    Yale, an institution of highest indoctrination.
    Mr. Not-so-Sharparo here’s a small little bit of cognitive thinking for you, YALE, it‘s indoctrinators and it’s students are the 1%. But in my world that’s okay, be as insipid as you like, treat others as simpletons and with utter disdain as your ilk so often does, you shall reap what you sow.
    The most beautiful thought of all is that, someday ( soon, please? ) the very idea that these things ever took place shall not even be recalled as having ever taken place.

    Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 11:24am

      This whole 99% thing is just one more graphic example of how ignorant ‘graduates’ of our “educational” institutions really are.

      You can’t fix stupid.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • mrfunn
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 11:33am

      I don’t think they want to fix stupid.
      Obama would lose his base.

      Report Post »  
  • quiltgal
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 10:46am

    Couldn‘t the supposedly intelligent folks at Yale come up with any quotes that aren’t lies, propaganda, mistakes, or virtually meaningless?
    What a stupid list.

    Report Post »  
  • hi
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 10:15am

    Did you see Shapario said the Tea Party quotes were anti-American? That has to be the funniest lying quote! Yale is for those who defecate on police cars.

    Report Post » hi  
  • mrfunn
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 9:54am

    OWS is a perfect example of the lib’s imagined Utopia, a hell hole.
    The ‘Protester’ – human debris, in other words, Obama’s new base
    ‘We Are the 99 Percent’ – the masses are asses, the framers knew that mob rule was not the answer.

    A MSM and lib driven crisis, they are not letting this ‘crisis’ go to waste.
    Aren’t they inciting something here?
    I don’t think they know who they are inciting.
    Hmmm, a plan.

    Do whatever it takes to keep control of the White House.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if Ron Paul is correct about martial law being established in America.

    If there wasn’t all the lib and MSM support, Obama would not have a crisis to play with.

    Report Post »  
  • lifeisgreat
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 9:51am

    Protesters:
    You should be chanting, I am the 49% that pays zero in federal taxes.
    I drive on public roads, and I am glad I have firemen and policemen to aid and protect me.
    I am a drain on society!

    Report Post »  
  • wash51
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 9:22am

    This is ridiculous agenda driven liberal twaddle. It captures the thinking of the liberal elite who are about 27% of the population while ignoring everyone else, how typical.

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:53am

    I love Knowledge & Education; I hate most Universities — It’s a problem of the Professors and Assistants, and their imposed Liberal indoctrination!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • SHIPMONEY100TRILLION
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:41am

    Yale is the 99% that F donkeys and want to Occupy my Dog’s ASS. I say occupy the sewers of New York when the Dollar falls and it will get them were they want to be. And they would have, not only a beautiful, but plentiful stink they love and total wast they love to dream about.

    Report Post »  
  • Charles
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:38am

    yale is a slimy anti-American commie-lib college in a run down neighborhood where the sound of gunfire is not uncommon.

    Report Post »  
  • dadsrootbeer
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:36am

    So the occupy group we are the 99 percent is the slogan of the year by Yale. Funny, these same people overwellmingly come from parents who are not the 99 percenters.

    Report Post » dadsrootbeer  
    • Cemoto78
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 9:23am

      I thought “Mic check” would have been on the list, after all it’s about as dumb as the rest of them.

      Report Post » Cemoto78  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:01am

    The best quote for 2012…Ron Paul is your President, like it or not!

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • mrfunn
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 8:41am

      .
      I don’t think that is the way it works.

      Report Post »  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 7:43am

    I’m sure Harvard will outdo them in some way.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • matinva
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 7:34am

    So, Yale picks a lie as its number one ‘phrase’ of the year. They should have told the truth and put the decimal point in the correct place. They are the (point) .99%, in fact. The numbers don’t lie, but the OWS crowd certainly does. Not to mention the outright crime, deaths and trashing of hundreds of our public parks. This group should be sued into oblivion for the destruction they wrought.

    Report Post » matinva  
  • ThankBabyJesus
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 6:23am

    snobs

    Report Post » ThankBabyJesus  
  • 4xeverything
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 6:05am

    Occupy Who? I frankly have been so caught up in the Christmas season that I have forgotten all about those dirty nonhippy hippies.

    Report Post » 4xeverything  
  • biohazard23
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 5:19am

    The year’s best quotes? “…quotes that are famous, important or revealing of the spirit of the times, not necessarily ones that are the most eloquent or admirable.” Really? Why not just call it what it is: the Year’s Best Quotes That Little Freddy Shapiro Finds Entertaining. This list is about as relevant and informative as a grocery list.

    Report Post » biohazard23  
  • skiziks20453
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 5:08am

    AxelPhantom,
    amen my friend.

    Report Post »  
  • Rweb
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 5:07am

    The 99 percent is the biggest lie ever told. They do not speak for me. Does that mean I am part of the one percent. Just check my bank account and I am still not rich.

    Report Post »  
  • TheRugger
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 3:08am

    Aren’t these kids going to an Ivy League College so they can become part of the 1%? Or is it their ambition to get one of the most expensive educations on Earth so they can sit around in public parks and complain that nobody is handing them millions of dollars on a plate?

    Report Post » TheRugger  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 3:32am

      Great post!
      It‘s getting harder and harder to understand why ’they’ call it “higher education”.
      Must be because of the “higher” costs of union and tenured teachers?

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • TH30PH1LUS
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 4:23am

      FROM the original Yale Charter: “WHEREAS several well disposed, and Publick spirited Persons of their sincere Regard to & Zeal for upholding & Propagating of the Christian Protestant Religion by a succession of Learned & Orthodox men…”

      YALE was founded to further the Gospel. Now it is a den of liars, atheists, communists, and Christ-haters.

      Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
  • dwandm
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:26am

    Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the impeciles that are given the opportunity to “educate” the youth.

    Report Post »  
    • Diane TX
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:33am

      “Impeciles”? What’s that? Do you mean “imbeciles”? Most people know that there is such a thing called spell check.

       
  • Diane TX
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:18am

    I think that a slogan of “We are the 99% of the 20% of American citizens that are completely delusional” would be much more accurate.

    Report Post »  
  • lodgerat
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:11am

    1. “We are the 99 percent.” — slogan of Occupy movement. Lol
    Why those guys can’t even count. They also poop in public. Hey that should be their slogan. “We are the guys that poop in public” ;-)

    Report Post » lodgerat  
    • AxelPhantom
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:49am

      Hey, my dog poops in public, complains loudly when another dog has a ball and he doesn’t, jumps any female in heat and hasn’t figured out that chasing his tail accomplishes nothing, does that mean he is part of the 99% too?

      Report Post »  
  • CatB
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:04am

    I like we are the 53 better .. and it is more accurate .. we are the taxpayers … those who claim to be the 99 want to scr*w. More proof that Higher education is dead (along with the public schools) they are nothing more than indoctrination centers for the left.

    TEA!

    Report Post »  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 3:35am

      Ditto on indoctrination!

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • taxpro4u03
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 3:44am

      I agree. By and large King George’s business venture did fairly well for nearly 235 years; Manifest destiny completed; Movement from an agrarian to an industrialized, to an ‘information’ to a ‘conceptual’ age – ‘Intellectual’ Property rights (? You create it, we OWN it – ‘privilege,’ see…) Without something to ‘trade,‘ a growing number feel ’disenfranchised.’ Factories are sitting idle, as are freight haulers (Trains, planes and big trucks). When home grown Gibson Guitars plays by the rules (except that one they were neither advised nor with the aid of a Heinz 57 variety of lawyers could have KNOWN about, ‘new’ trade deals see…) – is legislatively prohibited to PRODUCE something of value, sends a message to those who ‘would’ produce domestically. The net effect will be to dry up what remains of an already shrinking ‘tax base,‘ causing the ’need‘ to ’borrow MORE’ to sustain (too big to fail bailouts) – Left to their own devices, Americans can fix it on their own. They always have. Necessity is the mother of invention/innovation. that hasn’t changed. The ability to DO IT responsibly and unmolested unfortunately, has.

      Report Post »  
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