Quotes of the Day

The TIME 100
I read TIME's pick of "The World's Most Influential People" with great pleasure [May 11]. I found the articles fascinating, even poetic at times — until I got to Ann Coulter's essay on Sarah Palin. All of the other writers praise their candidates without disparaging someone else. Coulter, who in this case insults John McCain, seems incapable of such an approach.
Melanie Hart,
Troy, Mich., U.S.

Coulter was correct that Palin was responsible for "more votes than the usual vice-presidential candidate." What I think Coulter missed was that most of those votes went to the other ticket.
Erin Pagel,
Redlands, Calif., U.S.

After reading the TIME 100, I came to several conclusions. First, the world is apparently being shaped by virtual unknowns. Second, in many cases, the real influential people seem to be the ones writing the essays. And third, aren't the media that report on the events that most affect the world among the most influential? Curiously, their names were missing.
The Rev. Al Detter,
Erie, Pa., U.S.

Until I Read Michael Moore's piece on Bernie Madoff, I believed Moore was so misinformed and off the wall that if he said that gravity makes objects fall, I would stop believing in the laws of physics. I found myself agreeing with his every word. The managers and brokers who facilitated the greed should also be reviled.
Ted Zaydel,
Waterford, Mich., U.S.

I listened to moore do interviews during the U.S. election in 2008. It did not escape my attention then that he was a very passionate man, vociferous about the causes he espoused, though many times he appeared to be rambling, unrealistic and perhaps a touch fanatical in his views. But I was highly impressed by his article on Bernie Madoff. It is a superb piece of writing with the right mix of incisive sarcasm and wit that reveals a dark corner of American society with the intensity of a searchlight. And the accompanying sketch of Madoff once again underlines why TIME is the best.
P.K. Majumdar,
New Delhi

As a Saudi citizen, I strongly disagree with Liz Cheney that Deputy Minister for Women's Education Norah al-Faiz will face obstacles because she "can't, for example, work face to face with male counterparts without violating the kingdom's strict religious code." I believe in the female right of privacy. Most Saudi women feel that way as well. Some Westerners mistakenly think that is discrimination. We have separate campuses at the university for men and women. Giving women their own places to work and compete is better than their being second-class employees, as in some Western countries.
Saleh Almuzaini,
Riyadh

The TIME 100 was great! while I would love to accomplish what most of these icons have, nothing would make me more proud than being thought of in the way Meg Ryan thinks of Tom Hanks.
Kent Hanson,
Everett, Wash., U.S.

Thank god for Americans. without them, it seems, the world would be without influential people.
Joseph B. Busch,
Brightwater, New Zealand