A good conversationalist is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember. ~John Mason Brownquoted in Contemporary Quotations by James Beasley Simpson, 1964
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In places this book is a little over-written, because Mr Blunden is no more able......
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Many useful and valuable books lie buried in shops and libraries, unknown and unexamined, unless......
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Quotations will tell the full measure of meaning, if you have enough of them. ~James......
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Life itself is a quotation. ~Jorge Luis Borgesquoted in Cool Memories by Jean Baudrillard, 1987...
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It is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to fit any occasion… ~Abraham......
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For I often please myself with the fancy, now that I may have saved from......
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Quotology disdains no quotations whatsoever, a duty it bears stoutly, with bloodshot eyes and sagging......
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It is the little writer rather than the great writer who seems never to quote,......
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I have heard that nothing gives an Author so great Pleasure, as to find his......
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My readers, who may at first be apt to consider Quotation as downright pedantry, will......
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Quotation is more universal and more ancient than one would perhaps believe. ~James Boswell, “The......
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I am not merely a habitual quoter but an incorrigible one. I am, I may......
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Terri, I’m discovering that everybody is a closet quotesmith. Just give them a chance. www.robertbrault.com/2009/05/more-thoughts-on-art-and-artists.html#comments~Robert......
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Quotologists encounter happy surprises, bright books by faded authors, treasures hidden under dust. ~Willis Goth......
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What is all wisdom save a collection of platitudes? Take fifty of our current proverbial......
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Fine phrases I value more than bank-notes. I have ear for no other harmony than......
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Learning is often spoken of as if we are watching the open pages of all......
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Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous. ~El Amir Abdelkaderquoted in......
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In such a case the writer is apt to have recourse to epigrams. Somewhere in......
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I here present thee with a hive of bees, laden some with wax, and some......
- It is a rich storehouse for those
It is a rich storehouse for those who love quotations. It is as full of......
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…the curious hunter-up of rare quotations… the young and struggling scribbler… ~William Francis Henry King,......
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It has been said that death ends all things. This is a mistake. It does......
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They have written volumes out of which a couplet of verse, a period in prose,......
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A case which commonly happens with us in London, as well as our Neighbours in......
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Most of the noted literary men have indulged in the prudent habit of selecting favorite......
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[W]hen I hear or read a good line I can hardly wait to tell it......
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Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests......
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I suppose every old scholar has had the experience of reading something in a book......
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Is all literature eavesdropping, and all art Chinese imitation? our life a custom, and our......
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In phrases as brief as a breath worldly wisdom concentrates. ~Willis Goth Regier, Quotology, 2010TPV,......
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As by some might be saide of me: that here I have but gathered a......
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I believe it was Gayelord Hauser, the nutritionist, who said that “you are what you......
- Luminous quotations also atone by their interest
Luminous quotations, also, atone, by their interest, for the dulness of an inferior book, and......
- For i am proverbed with a grandsire
For I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase… ~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet...
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This fellow pecks up wit, as pigeons peas; And utters it again when God doth......
- Now we sit through shakespeare in order
Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations. ~Orson Welles, attributed...
- A good maxim is never out of
A good maxim is never out of season. ~English Proverb...
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Don’t quote your proverb till you bring your ship into port. ~Gaelic Proverb...
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Proverbs are the daughters of daily experience. ~Dutch Proverb...
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Proverbs are the literature of reason. ~French Proverb...
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The best aphorisms are…. portable wisdom, the quintessential extracts of thought and feeling. They furnish......
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The proverbs of a nation furnish the index to its spirit and the results of......
- A single gnomic line can come to
A single gnomic line can come to resonate with centuries of subsequent wisdom. ~Gary Saul......
- The ancients who in these matters were
The ancients, who in these matters were not perhaps such blockheads as some may conceive,......
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Whatever is felicitously expressed risks being worse expressed: it is a wretched taste to be......
- The art of quotation requires more delicacy
The art of quotation requires more delicacy in the practice than those conceive who can......
- Nor must you find fault with me
Nor must you find fault with me if I often give you what I have......
- Unless created as freestanding works quotations resemble
Unless created as freestanding works, quotations resemble “found” art. They are analogous, say, to a......
- Most of those who make collections verse
Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries......
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A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and......
- I wonder if an ever occurs before
I wonder if “an” ever occurs before “haughty” except in a quotation, or whether you......
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Language would be tolerable without spicy, epigrammatic sayings, and life could no doubt be carried......
- Proverbs accordingly are somewhat analogous to those
Proverbs accordingly are somewhat analogous to those medical Formulas which, being in frequent use, are......
- You may get a large amount of
You may get a large amount of truth into a brief space. ~Attributed to Beecher......
- Who knows but that all the men
Who knows but that all the men to whom reference has been made, and a......
- The lips of the wise are as
The lips of the wise are as the doors of a cabinet; no sooner are......
- All quotation dictionaries stand on the shoulders
All quotation dictionaries stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, which must be consulted as......
- The attribution of a speaker is in
The attribution of a speaker is in fact a part of the quotation. Some statements......
- The great writers of aphorisms read as
The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other well.......
- Aphorism n predigested wisdom the flabby
APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom. The flabby wine-skin of his brain Yields......
- I feel a reassuring oneness with other
I feel a reassuring oneness with other people when I find that even my most......
- Someone who can write aphorisms should not
Someone who can write aphorisms should not fritter away his time writing essays. ~Karl Kraus,......
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You could compile, I should think, the worst book in the world entirely out of......
- Its such a pleasure to write down
It’s such a pleasure to write down splendid words...
- The man who writes a single line
The man who writes a single line, And hears it often quoted, Will in his......
- Proverbs often contradict one another as any
Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us......
- Gnomic wisdom however is notoriously polychrome and
Gnomic wisdom, however, is notoriously polychrome, and proverbs depend for their truth entirely on the......
- Many are the sayings of elia scattered
Many are the sayings of Elia… scattered about in obscure periodicals and forgotten miscellanies. From......
- An anthology of quotations is a museum
An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances. ~Gary Saul Morson, The Words of......
- A vast meaning is unfolded in each
A vast meaning is unfolded in each line, with such power that a sentence only......
- To me novels are just quotations with
To me, novels are just quotations with a bunch of filler. ~Terri Guillemets...
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The hunter for aphorisms on human nature has to fish in muddy water, and he......
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Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A widely-read man never......
- What remains therefore but that our last
What remains therefore, but that our last Recourse must be had to large Indexes, and......
- As the highly colored birds do not
As the highly colored birds do not fly around in the dull, leaden plains of......
- Every so often a quotation sweeps through
Every so often, a quotation sweeps through the world like an epidemic. Hemingway must have......
- They never get ahead an inch because
They never get ahead an inch, because they are always hugging some coward maxim, which......
- The surest way to make a monkey
The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him. That......
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When you see yourself quoted in print and you’re sorry you said it, it suddenly......
- It is a good thing for an
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett’s......
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A quoting author is just as ridiculous as a country girl upon her first coming......
- Thus have i as well i could
Thus have I, as well as I could, gathered a posey of observations as they......
- In literary composition a well chosen quotation lights
In literary composition a well-chosen quotation lights up the page like a fine engraving… ~William......
- To such as these we offer with
To such as these we offer, with some confidence, and with no little sympathy, our......
- An apt quotation is as good an
An apt quotation is as good as an original remark. ~Proverb...
- The wise men of old have sent
The wise men of old have sent most of their morality down the stream of......
- Whatever we may say against collections which
Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless......
- Whoever reads only to transcribe or quote
Whoever reads only to transcribe or quote shining remarks without entering into the genius and......
- Books of quotation are not only importance
Books of quotation are not only of importance to the reader for what they contain......
- The grecians maxim would indeed be a
The Grecian’s maxim would indeed be a sweeping clause in Literature; it would reduce many......
- And if these little sparks of holy
And if these little sparks of holy fire, which I have heaped together, do not......
- Proverbs are in the world of thought
Proverbs are in the world of thought what gold coin is in the world of......
- Wise sayings are the light towers along journey
Wise sayings are the light-towers along the journey of life. ~Attributed to Johnson in Sayings:......
- At any rate nothing was more characteristic
At any rate, nothing was more characteristic of him [Walter Benjamin] in the thirties than......
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Why lift aphorisms from a novel at all? [Geoffrey] Bennington speculates that one’s chief motivation......
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It is perfectly delightful to take advantage of the conscientious labors of those who go......
- But perhaps the excellence of aphorisms consists
But, perhaps, the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some......
- Say what you want without saying it
Say what you want without saying it yourself: quote. Very useful, this, sometimes lovely, and......
- Quotations are the backbone of much literature
Quotations are the backbone of much of literature, and of the transmission of art and......
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The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until an equal mind and......
- Immortality i notice that as soon writers
Immortality. I notice that as soon as writers broach this question they begin to quote.......
- Most of the classical citations you shall
Most of the classical citations you shall hear or read in the current journals or......
- We are as much informed of a
We are as much informed of a writer’s genius by what he selects as by......
- Whatever we think and say is wonderfully
Whatever we think and say is wonderfully better for our spirits and trust in another......
- When a man thinks happily he finds
When a man thinks happily, he finds no foot-track in the field he traverses. All......
- Attend to me sancho i do not
Attend to me, Sancho, I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and......
- The proper proportions of a maxim minimum
The proper proportions of a maxim: a minimum of sound to a maximum of sense.......
- And as hearbes and trees are bettered
And as hearbes and trees are bettered and fortified by being transplanted, so formes of......
- Nor do apophthegms only serve for ornament
Nor do apophthegms only serve for ornament and delight, but also for action and civil......
- Antiquities or remnants of history are as
Antiquities, or remnants of history, are, as was said, tanquam tabula naufragii: when industrious persons,......
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At all events, the next best thing to being witty one’s self, is to be......
- A good thought is indeed a great
A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first......
- A quotation at the right moment is
A quotation at the right moment is like bread in a famine. ~Yiddish Proverb...
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Epigrams succeed where epics fail. ~Persian Proverb...
- What flowers are to gardens spices food
What flowers are to gardens, spices to food, gems to a garment, and stars to......
- The common sayings of the multitude are
The common sayings of the multitude are too true to be laughed at. ~Welsh Proverb...
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A man’s life is often builded on a proverb. ~Hebrew Proverb...
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Besides, it happens (how, I cannot tell) that an idea launched like a javelin in......
- A wise man who knows proverbs reconciles
A wise man who knows proverbs reconciles difficulties. ~Yoruba Proverb, quoted in Curiosities in Proverbs:......
- Though many a gatherer has carried his
…though many a gatherer has carried his basket through these diamond districts of the mind…......
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Proverbs embrace the wide sphere of human existence, they take all the colours of life,......
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This is one of the results of that adventurous spirit which is now stalking forth......
- Such do not always understand the authors
Such do not always understand the authors whose names adorn their barren pages, and which......
- A learned historian declared to me of
A learned historian declared to me of a contemporary, that the latter had appropriated his......
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Quotes are nothing but inspiration for the uninspired. ~Attributed to Richard Kemph...
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A man, groundly learned already, may take much profit himself in using by epitome to......
- A beautiful verse an apt remark or
A beautiful verse, an apt remark, or a well-turned phrase, appropriately quoted, is always effective......
- In ancient days tradition says when knowledge
In ancient days, tradition says, When knowledge was much stinted...
- How many of us have been first
How many of us have been first attracted to reason, first learned to think, to......
- General observations drawn from particulars are the
General observations drawn from particulars are the jewels of knowledge, comprehending great store in a......
- Nevertheless a maxim does not necessarily become
Nevertheless, a maxim does not necessarily become a proverb. Many grubs never grow to butterflies;......
- A proverb is an exploding atom of
A proverb is an exploding atom of wisdom. ~Gaston Kabor...
- People who rarely read long books or
People who rarely read long books, or even short stories, still appreciate the greatest examples......
- Nothing ever becomes real till it is
Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced...
- The aphorism is cultivated only by those
The aphorism is cultivated only by those who have known fear in the midst of......
- Quotations cause all kinds of trouble willis
Quotations cause all kinds of trouble. ~Willis Goth Regier, Quotology, 2010TPV, UWP, p.37...
- Hush little bright line dont you cry
Hush, little bright line, don’t you cry You’ll be a clich...
- As a good housewife out of divers
As a good housewife out of divers fleeces weaves one piece of cloth, a bee......
- Unraveling proverbs is a suitable puzzle for
Unraveling proverbs is a suitable puzzle for an old man. I put pieces in order......
- Some for renown on scraps of learning
Some for renown on scraps of learning dote, And think they grow immortal as they......
- The governess looked upon him mr swiveller
[T]he governess… looked upon him [Mr. Swiveller] as a literary gentleman of eccentric habits, and......
- Someone cyril connolly ezra pound once
Someone – Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? – once said that anything that can be read......
- One mans wit and all mens wisdom
One man’s wit, and all men’s wisdom. ~John Russell, definition of a proverbin conversation, cited......
- A garbled quotation is equivalent to a
A garbled quotation is equivalent to a betrayal, an insult, a prejudice. ~E.M. CioranAnathemas and......
- What is an epigram a dwarfish whole
What is an Epigram? A dwarfish Whole, Its Body brevity, and wit its Soul. ~Samuel......
- We prefer to think that the absence
We prefer to think that the absence of inverted commas guarantees the originality of a......
- Take my advice dear reader dont talk
Take my advice, dear reader, don’t talk epigrams even if you have the gift. I......
- But proverbs are always platitudes until you
But proverbs are always platitudes until you have personally experienced the truth of them. ~Aldous......
- I love quotes because good are vitamins
I love quotes because good quotes are vitamins for the brain! ~Patrick Driessen...
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A true quotation cannot be divorced from the character who uttered or scribbled it; it......
- One is more apt to become wise
One is more apt to become wise by doing fool things than by reading wise......
- An epigram is a gag thats played
An epigram is a gag that’s played Carnegie Hall. ~Oscar Levantquoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/30/epigram-is-a-wisecrack (Thanks, Garson O’Toole of......
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I swim across a sea of quotes, splashing in the words and riding the waves......
- A proper collection of quotations is the
A proper collection of quotations is the whole world digested. ~Terri Guillemets...
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If you don’t quote yourself, nobody else will. And you can quote me on that.......
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One has to secrete a jelly in which to slip quotations down people’s throats...
- A common place book is what a provident poet
A Common-place-Book is what a provident Poet cannot subsist without, for this proverbial Reason, that......
- You will find professed quotations from authors
You will find professed quotations from authors, of the correctness of which you will not......
- A knowledge of general literature is one
A knowledge of general literature is one of the evidences of an enlightened mind; and......
- To select well among old things is
To select well among old things is almost equal to inventing new ones. ~Nicolas Charles......
- Collections of gnomes adages sayings and parables
Collections of gnomes, adages, sayings, and parables have been made from times immemorial in all......
- And in spite of his practical ability
And in spite of his practical ability, some of his experience had petrified into maxims......
- A good aphorism is too hard for
A good aphorism is too hard for the tooth of time, and is not worn......
- They are the abridgments of wisdom sumner
They are the abridgments of wisdom. ~Sumner Ellis, Hints on Preaching: A Cloud of Witnesses,......
- I protest for about the hundredth time
I protest, for about the hundredth time, against the slipshod method of quoting a mere......
- Indeed a good quotation hardly ever comes
Indeed a good quotation hardly ever comes amiss. It is a pleasing break in the......
- This little book is not put forth
This little book is not put forth to supply an imperative demand, but rather with......
- These fruit thoughts of a students learned leisure
These fruit-thoughts of a student’s learned leisure, may aptly become the seed-thoughts for many vacant......
- The obscurest sayings of the truly great
The obscurest sayings of the truly great are often those which contain the germ of......
- A verse may find him whom a
A verse may find him whom a sermon flies, And turn delight into a sacrifice…......
- We sometimes think of quotations as extracts
We sometimes think of quotations as extracts from larger texts, but some quotations originated complete......
- Maria edgeworth grumbled against vandals who ruined
Maria Edgeworth grumbled against vandals who ruined immortal works by quoting the life out of......
- It should be a pleasure to the
It should be a pleasure to the appreciative reader, while recognizing their beauty, to cull......
- Others again give us the mere carcass
Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s thoughts, but deprived of all......
- There is a homely directness about these
There is a homely directness about these rustic apothegms which makes them far more palatable......
- That part of a work one author
That part of a work of one author found in another is not of itself......
- Dr richard bentley 1662 1742 is said one
Dr. Richard Bentley (1662-1742)… is said one day, on finding his son reading a novel,......
- To the editor author and public speaker
To the editor, the author, and the public speaker, it is believed that a great......
- Apothegms to thinking minds are the seeds
Apothegms to thinking minds are the seeds from which spring vast fields of new thought,......
- A man of maxims only is like
A man of maxims only is like a Cyclops with one eye, and that in......
- Euphonic and harmonious expressions forcible just profound
Euphonic and harmonious expressions, forcible and just expressions, profound and comprehensive expressions, and especially apt......
- I didnt do anything that can properly
…I didn’t do anything that can properly be called research; rather, I proceeded by the......
- Its amazing how much funny stuff there
It’s amazing how much funny stuff there is…. [A] river of rich comedic milk is......
- Were a compulsive but amiable crew those
We’re a compulsive but amiable crew, those of us who feel, or have felt, the......
- Oh to say something so fine memorable
Oh, to say something so fine, so memorable, that it carries across time, oceans, and......