In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months

Top 10 Quotes

3. Hayward "Apologizes"

By Frances RomeroThursday, Dec. 09, 2010
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Joshua Roberts / Bloomberg / Getty Images

"I'd like my life back."

—Tony Hayward, then BP CEO, apologizing for this summer's oil spill, the worst in American history, while also infamously saying that "no one wants this over more than I do" (Think Progress)

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