A lot of people said a lot of things in 2018, and this year’s additions to the Yale Book of Quotations are a dazzling collection of the best (and worst) of those things. Compiled this year by Fred Shapiro, an associate director of the Yale Law School library, the phrases selected for the annual collection, published since 2006, are not necessarily chosen for their wisdom. As the Associated Press reports, the quotes are picked because they “are famous or revealing of the spirit of the times, and not necessarily eloquent or admirable.”
That’s important to keep in mind when considering that Rudy Giuliani’s assertion that “truth isn’t truth” is number one on the list. Notably, a number of the top slots are filled by tweets heard ‘round the world.
Without further ado, let’s see this year’s “winners.”
#10: Rep. Maxine Waters encourages constituents to question and confront members of Donald Trump’s unscrupulous cabinet when encountering them out and about in the world.
“If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd! And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Waters’ instruction was given at an LA protest against Trump’s child separation policy in late June, in the wake of Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders all making headlines after they found themselves unwelcome in various restaurants. Unwilling (and unable) to become better people who do better work, the cabinet members blamed angry citizens for being unruly and uncivil.
Waters was swiftly blamed for single-handedly creating a divided, “uncivil” political climate, as though the nation wasn't on fire and folks weren’t fighting back before.
#9: Judge Rosemarie Aquilina drives home the impact of convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar during his sentencing hearing for sexually abusing minors within the USA Gymnastics system.
“I have just signed your death warrant.”
Aquilina sentenced Nassar to a minimum of 40 years and a maximum of 175, in a dramatic hearing where she also stated that she wouldn’t even send her dogs to the disgraced doctor for treatment. Her feelings for Nassar can be best summarized by her distaste for a letter Nassar wrote, maintaining his sexually abusive “treatments” of young athletes were somehow effective.
#8: Former FBI Director James Comey’s polite but pointed call-out of Donald Trump’s lies and unhinged rants, which are (and were) continuously based on misinformation from outlets like Fox News.
“Our country is led by those who will lie about anything, backed by those who will believe anything, based on information from media sources that will say anything.”
The tweet from late May was, specifically, a rebuttal to Donald Trump’s rambling allegations that the FBI embedded spies in his presidential campaign; sadly, the sentiment is timeless when it comes to this president (and the GOP writ large).
#7: Kanye West’s “dragon energy” tweet in support of Donald Trump, seemingly apropos of nothing, back in late April.
“You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone.”
The legendary rapper had folks scratching their heads throughout 2018 (and before) for his very public embrace of Donald Trump.
After a blowup with “Blexit” brainiac Candace Owens at the end of October, West said he was “distancing” himself from politics.
#6: Donald Trump’s assessment of his own intelligence, in early January, in response to a wild week during which, after the publication of Fire and Fury, he found his mental fitness for the White House under frequent question.
“[I am] not smart, but genius ... and a very stable genius at that!”
The quote is Trump’s only appearance on the list (though other quotes do discuss him), and is just a snippet from a series of tweets on the topic of his mental fitness. In the early morning rant, Trump used his thumbs to vent about the Mueller investigation and Hillary Clinton, before listing the version of his resume that helps him sleep at night.
Just three days later, Philadelphia-area Rep. Brendan Boyle introduced the Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act, more easily referred to as the STABLE GENIUS Act. In July, Trump again called himself a “stable genius” when discussing NATO and his tweets with a Croatian reporter.
#5: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior David Hogg’s scathing plea for adults to do something about the endless stream of school shootings, during an interview on CNN.
“We’re children. You guys, like, are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, come over your politics and get something done.”
Before he was one of the faces of the March for Our Lives, Hogg was just another terrified and angry survivor of a school massacre, begging the adults to do something to keep kids safe.
Ultimately, the students of Parkland took things into their own hands, and mobilized a movement against gun violence that also encouraged young people to speak up and to vote.
#4: Meghan McCain’s not-even-slightly-subtle dig at Donald Trump during her eulogy for her father, Senator John McCain, on September 1.
“We gather to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those that live lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.”
Trump, who had mocked McCain for being a prisoner of war, among other things, was pointedly forbidden from attending the senator’s funeral. Trump tweeted throughout the service without once mentioning his rival. Meghan McCain came under significant conservative fire for “politicizing” her father’s death with her powerful eulogy, which also invoked (and dismissed) Trump’s MAGA mantra.
#3: Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi’s oh-so-carefully worded dismissal of Roseanne Barr and her blaming her bigoted rants on their product, in one of the greatest corporate comebacks of all time, in late May.
“While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”
Barr, who has since left Twitter, was under fire for a racist tweet about former Obama staffer Valerie Jarrett, had just seen herself removed from the reboot of the hit ABC show she created. She flip-flopped between apologizing and defending herself, with a quick pause to blame Ambien, a sleeping pill produced by Sanofi, and the stress of the Memorial Day holiday.
While Ambien does have a rep for making consumers do odd things, Sanofi refused to add “shrieking racism” to its list of possible side effects.
#2: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s angry yet reverent endorsement of beer, during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in late September.
“I liked beer. I still like beer.”
Yale alum Kavanaugh raged out hard while in the hot seat in the testimony watched ‘round the world. While defending his love of “’skis” and insisting multiple allegations of sexual assault (most notably the allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford) were utter falsehoods, the then-judge exposed himself as having anything but a temperament befitting a member of the highest court in the land.
Nevertheless, the GOP confirmed him; Dr. Blasey Ford remains in hiding.
#1: Former New York mayor and current Trump toady personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s redefinition of a word that’s pretty damn important, during an August interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.
“Truth isn’t truth.”
Todd laughed at Giuliani, on camera. It’s quite the remarkable segment.
Giuliani, of course, was defending his decision to delay his client’s interview with special counsel Robert Mueller and avoid a “perjury trap.” When he backpedaled later, the man who used to be “America’s Mayor” claimed he was just commenting on the fact that no two witnesses remember things the same way. This nonsense, of course, is one of precious few incidents worthy of a Whitney GIF.
What do you think of this list? Did Shapiro miss some quotes you’d include, or include some that you’d toss aside? Remember, these aren’t necessarily quotes of elegance—rather, they speak to the nature of these Trumpian times.