One of the oldest traditions on Oscar nominations day is getting reaction quotes from nominees. Not everyone participates, but plenty do. Who said the best things this year? Let's take a look. (All quotes via Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.)

Best Honesty About What This All Really Means: Viola Davis (Best Actress, The Help)

"This second nomination will affect my career even more than the first one. Honestly, I can't wait to get back to doing what I love: acting. On Feb. 27, when this is all over, I will get back to my life. I love the awards I've won, I'm so proud and happy to have received them, but I don't take them to bed with me. All I am at the end of the day is an actor."

Best Marketing Guy: Demián Bichir (Best Actor, A Better Life)

"Hopefully more and more people will jump into iTunes and Netflix to see our film. That will be the biggest reward we could get."

Best "Aww" Inducing Reaction: Ludovic Bource (Best Score, The Artist)

"I am humbled and over-joyed to learn of my Oscar nomination. Last week I came to Hollywood for the first time in my life, which in of itself, was a dream come true. I started playing the accordion when I was 8 years old, I wish I could go back in time at tell myself about today, the dream continues!" [Eight-year-old French kid playing the accordion?? Aww.]

Best Casually Slipped-In Joke: Martin Scorsese (Best Director, Hugo)

"I am deeply honored to have been nominated by the Academy for my work on Hugo. Every picture is a challenge, and this one – where I was working with 3D, HD and Sacha Baron Cohen for the first time – was no exception."

Best This Would Have Sounded Like the Crazy Future Just a Few Years Ago: Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Best Animated Feature, Kung Fu Panda 2)

"I was in bed, watching it streaming on my tablet."

Best Lack of Humility: Dante Ferretti (Best Art Direction, Hugo)

"This is number ten… not bad."

Saddest: Peter Straughan (Best Adapted Screenplay, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)

"I’m stunned and thrilled to hear about the nomination. I wish more than anything in the world that my wife Bridget O’Connor — who did the lion’s share of the adaptation — could be here to enjoy this moment. She would be so happy and so proud. I’m going to go and meet my daughter now and tell her how clever her mother was!" [O'Connor, who was Straughan's wife, died of cancer in 2010]

Best Make a Night of It (Though Risky Because What If You Didn't Get It): Octavia Spencer (Best Supporting Actress, The Help)

"A lot of us actually went to dinner last night and slept over and wanted to be together when we found out, so in case we didn't get that call we wanted to be nice and hungover."

Best Stars (or Editors), They're Just Like Us: Kevin Tent (Best Editing, The Descendants)

"I overslept so I went online. I got emails … then my sister called from Buffalo."

Best Huh? Britishism: Janet McTeer (Best Supporting Actress, Albert Nobbs)

"I'm bouncing off in my skin."

Best Thinly Disguised Exhaustion: Gary Oldman (Best Actor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

"This was my very last interview for press for Tinker Tailor. Ironic, isn't it? Now it's a whole new round of them."

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Richard Lawson