Voices from a city that is forever changed

New York residents have spent a week now opening wide their arms and their hearts. They have stood on street corners, clutching flickering candles. They have humbly joined hands with strangers, and they have shed heartfelt tears for neighbors that most never even knew. They have taken the entire world - and themselves - by surprise with their capacity for love and courageous giving.

But many are also finding time for introspection, gathering over the weekend in public places to mourn their losses and to wonder about the days and years to come. Here are a few of their voices.

'We've all come together, and we've all become one. We will definitely be more cautious. [But] we're Americans, and ... our spirit is too powerful to break.'

-Linda Ruiz, bank manager from Passaic, N.J., seen in Washington Square Park

'I was around for Pearl Harbor, and then, too, there was a sense for a time that we lost our innocence.

'But ... Americans are always able to sustain the blow and to return to be willing to have fun, and that is a terrific thing. A black cloud has come over us, but it will lift.'

- Jack Masey, World War II veteran and exhibition designer who worked on the Ellis Island museum

'It makes us a lot kinder to one another. People don't even have to speak right now - you just look in each other's faces and you feel comforted.... I pray that it lasts.'

- Derwin Hannah, Brooklyn resident selling flags in Washington Square Park

America will become 'more like Europe or the Middle East, where we will live life under a severe watch. We've prided ourselves on our freedom.... That's going to change.'

- Andy Carbone of Engine 205, Hook and Ladder 118 in Brooklyn, who lost eight of his crew of 52 in the twin towers

'We will have to be a little bit more cautious, especially with the airplanes. But we like our freedom too much to really change.'

- Long Island resident Deborah Pullen, with (from right) sister Linda Scott, daughter Tonna, and granddaughter Tatania