Whenever I ask for a show of hands on how the locals feel about the economy--local and national--Texans, Minnesotans and New Mexicans invariably are bullish, while New Yorkers and Californians are bearish.

FORBES: California Leavin'

Over the course of 13 months, common themes began to emerge whenever I would ask why kids such as these were doing such wondrous work in these places and substandard work elsewhere.

CNN: Commentary: What do you expect of black students?

And whenever I go to the street, I ask the security to meet me at the parking lot and walk me back to the parking lot.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Rifqa Bary and the Noor Mosque

Whenever I speak to CEO groups, I always ask what keeps them awake at night, what they struggle with the most.

FORBES: Leadership Around the World

Whenever people used to ask me what was Slava like, I used to say, well, some people are a little bit of everything.

NPR: A Musician Recalls Playing Under Rostropovich

For years after, whenever I stopped in Delhi on assignment, the High Commission would politely ask me if I'd decided what to do with Ronnie's duck guns, which the great man had left at our diplomatic mission, presumably because he felt the fearsome Indian customs officers might create such a fuss his own exit might be delayed.

BBC: NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | When in Rome... move

First of all, whenever people ask me, why isn't Washington working -- I am a fierce defender of the integrity and hard work of individual members, which is, by the way, matched up by --when you look at polls, people hate Congress, but individual members a lot of them feel are really working hard on their behalf.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Takes Questions from Senate Democrats