The week in words: Need-based undies; secular economies; hearing God

"That's such a need-based business that it really is a good indication that the consumer hasn't checked out."

- Industry analyst Marshal Cohen, on the rise in
sales of men's underwear

"The consumer is further behind the recovery than the statistics would indicate."

- J.C. Penney Co. Inc.
chief executive officer
Myron E. Ullman III

"Secular economies like the U.S. and Britain, which were at the epicenter of the financial crisis, have not recovered quite so well as those economies and still carry a burden of debt and face a period of de-leveraging."

- Neil Mackinnon,
chief economist at ECU Group, on news of second-quarter growth in the French and German economies

"I just felt God was telling me, 'Be patient. Keep doing what you're doing. I'll take care of the rest.' "

- Nick Brosko, owner of Essington Avenue Auto Parts, on why he wouldn't sell out
to a developer

"Whenever we have plunged off a cliff and fallen into a deep hole in the past, for a while the economy has a tendency to bounce back very quickly."

- James Glassman,
a senior economist
at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"I was loyal to him. I ended up being loyal to a terrible, terrible fault."

- Frank DiPascali,
former chief financial officer
to Bernard L. Madoff

"It's probably not a propitious time for an incoming CEO to begin with a vacation . . . from a public relations standpoint it's probably not the wisest thing to do."

- Executive recruiter Steven Seiden, on plans by Robert Benmosche, American International Group Inc.'s new CEO, to begin his job with a two-week respite in Croatia