“I strongly believe misperceptions about America and Americans led to this deplorable attack. People in many foreign lands are poor and repressed. All they hear is America is the land of corporate greed, scandals and every American is a rich person with lots of toys. They resent us. Unfortunately, their misperception of America gives them a reason and somebody to blame, hate and lash out to. What they don’t seem to know is we aren’t all rich. We have many people struggling to live day to day. We have corporations struggling to survive. Maybe it all comes down to people trying to understand one another and recognizing that we aren’t that much different from one another.”

Bruce McLean

Executive director of the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council and a former missile launch officer and ROTC instructor in the United States Air Force

“This was a wake-up call for America. We have always thought it would never happen on our shores, but this shows we are not immune to these kinds of attacks.”

Glenna Armour

Howland town manager

“I tried to interview, but it seemed useless. My note pad felt useless. I just stood there in total shocked silence watching the building burn.”

Martin Wolk

MSNBC.com

“We kept in our mind that we had to be a little more careful.”

Gregory Lewkowitz

Sugarland, Texas, tourist

“We still travel; we still go places. We promised ourselves not to let them [terrorists] do it to us.”

Anna Lewkowitz

Sugarland, Texas, tourist

“It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a cowardly and depraved assault upon thousands of innocent people.”

Jean Chretien

Canadian prime minister