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They said what?!?!Quips, quotes and sound bites that made history
 President Ronald Reagan endorsed German unification and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Perhaps it's a moving quote from a presidential speech or a memorable quip from a court of law. Whatever their origin, memorable sound bites rotate through the 24-hour news cycle, seeping into our daily lexicon, our favorite jokes and even our serious political conversations. CNN editors sifted through a quarter-century of famous quips by newsmakers, politicians, entertainers and sports figures to come up with a list of those that made us laugh, made us wince, shifted the national debate and even rallied us in unexpected ways. Thawing the Cold WarOn June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood near the Berlin Wall and uttered words that some claim helped thaw the Cold War and topple the Soviet Union: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." "He (Reagan) was really the symbol of the Cold War. Even here in Russia, people know the phrases, 'the evil empire,' or 'Star Wars,'" said CNN's Jill Dougherty, who served for years as Moscow bureau chief. Two years after Reagan's famous speech, protesters toppled the wall that had split Berlin in half for nearly 50 years. In 2001, another United States President, George W. Bush, would make another important pilgrimage. After the September 11 terrorist attacks that felled the World Trade Center, Bush visited Ground Zero, where rescue workers were still digging into the hot ground looking for survivors or remains. "I can hear you, the whole world hears you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon," Bush told the workers. "That was a turning point because, for an administration that had been dogged by allegations of spin, it appeared to everybody else that this was the most natural reaction. This was a president with his people in pain," said CNN anchor and correspondent Richard Quest. Just a few months later, in January 2002, President Bush used tough language in his State of the Union speech to identify nations he felt constituted a threat to freedom. "This is a regime," he said referring to Saddam Hussein's leadership of Iraq, "that has something to hide from the civilized world. States like these and their terrorist allies (Iran and North Korea) constitute the axis of evil." The spin cycleOne memorable presidential quote had less to do with international policy and everything to do with sex. In January 1998, Washington was buzzing with a scandal involving President Bill Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," Clinton said earnestly in a news conference. "A lot of people said 'my goodness, is the president lying to the American people?' Clinton, of course, believed he didn't lie because of his definition of sex," said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. "That statement exposed the fatal flaw in Bill Clinton's presidency. He was not a straight talker. He seemed devious and wily." As a result of the scandal, Clinton became the second president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The Senate found him not guilty, so Clinton was able to finish his second term. But voters remembered the scandal in November 2000. "That's one reason why George Bush took office," Schneider said, "because he (Bush) sold himself through the media machine and through his father's reputation as a man of good character which, after a man like Bill Clinton, that's what Americans wanted." Some of the best quotes come straight off the campaign trail. Candidate Howard Dean drew large amounts of grassroots support in 2004 as he fought his way through a list of hopefuls to become the frontrunner in the presidential campaign. But his third-place finish in the Iowa Democratic caucuses was a blow to the campaign. When Dean addressed his campaign volunteers in a post-caucus rally, the candidate's enthusiasm soared. The result was an embarrassing sound bite that ended with a rousing, high-pitched squeal. "Not only are we going to New Hampshire, we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York," Dean said. "And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yeeeeeeeaah!!!" The next day, a news clip of Dean's speech played over and over again on most news channels, and Dean became the butt of jokes on late night television. His campaign never recovered. Divas in prisonThe court of public opinion may be a harsh place for politicians, but many entertainers, sports figures and business moguls found that a court of law could be a scary place, too. "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," attorney Johnnie Cochran quipped in 1995 in his closing statements at the murder trial of his client, football legend and television personality O.J. Simpson. Cochran was referring to a leather glove found at the murder scene of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Prosecutors had asked Simpson to put it on in front of the jury. Simpson struggled and ultimately could not fit the glove over his hand. In October 1995, the jury returned a not guilty verdict in the racially charged televised trial. Domestic Diva Martha Stewart found herself in legal trouble after a federal insider trading investigation. She was convicted of lying to investigators, and in 2004 she spent five months in prison. Her legal troubles spurred a memorable statement from the ever-composed Stewart. "Today is a shameful day," she said after her sentencing. "It's shameful for me and for my family and for my beloved company." Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss understands Stewart's chagrin at spending time in prison. Fleiss was released in 1999 after spending three years behind bars after a conviction on federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and money laundering related to a prostitution ring she ran that catered to stars and the Hollywood elite. Her stark assessment of prison life made for a memorable sound bite. "It was, for me, it was a nightmare," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper in 2004. "They had me on kitchen duty ... and I'd scrub pots and pans bigger than me," she said. 
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