Cherie Blair immortalised in quote collection

It was a heartfelt cry from a busy working mother who found herself at the centre of a political scandal. Now Cherie Blair has entered the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations for the first time because of her tearful apology after she bought two Bristol flats with the help of the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.

It was a heartfelt cry from a busy working mother who found herself at the centre of a political scandal. Now Cherie Blair has entered the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations for the first time because of her tearful apology after she bought two Bristol flats with the help of the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.

An extract from the dramatic 10-minute statement given by the Prime Minister's wife in December 2002 is one of about 1,000 new entries to the sixth edition of the 63-year-old reference book, published today.

"I am not Superwoman. The reality of my daily life is that I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air ... and sometimes some of the balls get dropped," confessed Mrs Blair to applause, after she was forced to admit that she had dealings with Foster in the face of Downing Street denials.

New Labour is well represented in the new edition with entries from the newly appointed European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson - "I'm a fighter and not a quitter" - David Blunkett on asylum-seekers and Gordon Brown on the birth of his son John: "I'm a father; that's what matters most. Nothing matters more."

The war in Iraq is another important influence. George Bush appears in the dictionary for the first time coining the phrase the "axis of evil", as does Lt Col Tim Collins's address to his troops in March 2003: "If you are ferocious in battle, be magnanimous in victory."

New entrants from the world of showbusiness, literature and sport include Anne Robinson - "You are the weakest link ... goodbye" - J K Rowling on poverty and childbirth and Jonny Wilkinson on his winning drop goal in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final: "It was probably the easiest attempt I had all day."

Elizabeth Knowles, the dictionary's editor, said: "In 1941, quotations came from printed sources. In the past 10 to 15 years, we have had an explosion in communication, and the internet has ensured that words then get around the globe.

"What is so interesting to see is how current events bring to the fore quotations from centuries ago," she added.

One bygone quotation to make its first entry comes from John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the US, who died in 1848, but whose words, America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy" have particular resonance today.

OPEN QUOTES: SOME OF THE NEW ENTRIES

Cherie Blair 1954-

I am not Superwoman. The reality of my daily life is that I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air ... and sometimes some of the balls get dropped.

December 2002

Jonny Wilkinson 1979-

It was probably the easiest attempt I had all day.

On his winning drop goal in the Rugby World Cup final in Sydney, 22 November 2003

J K Rowling 1965-

Poverty is a lot like childbirth - you know it is going to hurt before it happens, but you'll never know how much until you experience it.

May 2002

Andrew Gilligan 1968-

I have spoken to a British official who was involved in the preparation of the dossier. He said: 'It was transformed in the week before it was published, to make it sexier.'

'Today', 29 May 2003

Rowan Williams 1950-

We have to learn to be human alongside all sorts of others, the ones whose company we don't greatly like.

March 2003