Citation

As you’ve (hopefully) already noticed… I have a tendency to quote often. I see no problems in this, no problems in restating words that have already been said by great individuals. It’s much easier to use the words that the author used when trying to convey the same idea. I’m not exactly one for taking the easier path, but when an individual doesn’t feel as though s/he is conveying her/his message, it helps the third party understand what the individual is trying to say with a quote.

It is imperative that the context is retained when quoting, a misused quote is damaging to the user’s argument as well as the overall understanding. Sometimes I quote too often and then the quotes become riddles, passages an audience has to figure out. But to me, the essence of the quote is the reason I use them. I love quotes, they capture in the simplest form, an idea without necessarily directly saying it. This takes craft; it’s not easy to provide a good quote, it takes time to find the proper wording. Yet, quotes can be found everywhere in civilization. Movies, Music, and Books/Comics/Graphic Novels are the shining beacons where quotes thrive for me. I extract most of my quotes from these because, to me, these forms of media are most predominant. I have the utmost respect for those individuals that provide quotable material.

In my last post, I spoke about great individuals… most (if not all) these individuals are quotable on some subject matter or another. If we figure out why people say the things they do, we’re gently nudging each other on the same page (and I think that’s where we need to be… you know the threat of an alien invasion is always possible and what are we do to if that happens and we’re still bickering with our fellow man?). When I’m graced with another form of media, I think about the quotes and things that are said/written/read. I wish to be quoted, saying something that no one could have said better until someone actually does. It’s only fitting that I end this post with quotes…

I never have found the perfect quote. At best I have been able to find a string of quotations which merely circle the ineffable idea I seek to express. – Caldwell O’Keefe

A witty saying proves nothing – Voltaire (1694 – 1778)

There is not less wit nor less invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that thought – Pierre Bayle (1647 – 1706)

The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation. – Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. – Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992)