When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it

When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it

Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting.

Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting.

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap read more

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by read more

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was read more

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was becoming the world's first writer of self-contained ready-made quotations

Quotation is the highest compliment you can pay to an author

Quotation is the highest compliment you can pay to an author

Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation

Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation