Rick Perry’s ‘Oops,’ Occupy’s Battle Cry, Top Yale’s Best Quotes of 2011 List

What quotes defined 2011? Yale Law School’s 6th annual list of the most notable quotations of the year takes memorable quotes from Twitter, presidential debates, and death beds.

Fred Shapiro, the associate librarian at Yale Law School, said that last year’s list contained a lot of quotes from the conservative Tea Party. This year, however the liberal Occupy Movement occupies the top spot on the list. Shapiro told the Associated Press:

“The tea party quotes are very strongly anti-government. 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.”

Shapiro, who has been releasing his list of the best quotes of the year for the last 6-years, said that he tries to pick quotes that reveal the spirit of the times. This year, “We are the 99%” topped the list.

Here are the top 10 quotes from 2011.

• Occupy movement – “We are the 99 percent.” — slogan of Occupy movement.
• Elizabeth Warren -“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.”
• Warren Buffett – “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress.”
• GOP Candidate John Huntsman – “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”
• Rick Perry – “Oops.”
• Herman Cain – “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?’”
• Charlie Sheen – “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.”
• Steve Jobs’ final words – “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”
• Anthony Weiner on his nude photos – “I can’t say with certitude.”
• Gloria Allred on Herman Cain’s sexual allegations – “Instead of receiving the help that she had hoped for, Mr. Cain instead decided to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package.”

The Daily Mail reports that Christine O’Donnell and BP CEO Tony Hayward shared the most memorable quote of 2010. Christine O’Donnell said “I’m not a witch” and Tony Hayward, CEO of BP said “I’d like my life back.”

In 2009, the most memorable quote came from an unnamed speaker at a town hall meeting in South Carolina. The speaker said “keep your government hands off my Medicare.”

Do you think these are the most memorable quotes of 2011? You can check out the biggest stories of the year here.