Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comments about 47 per cent of the population dependent on the government and 'binders full of women' topped this year's best quotes, according to a Yale University librarian.

Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, released his seventh annual list of the most notable quotations of the year.

'Debate remarks and gaffes actually seemed to play an important role in the ups and downs of the election campaign and may even have affected the ultimate outcome of the election,' Shapiro said.