From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Wikipedia quotation templates, see Category:Quotation templates.
A quotation is the repetition of one expression as part of
another one, particularly when the quoted expression is well-known or
explicitly attributed (as by citation) to its original source.
A quotation can also refer to the repeated use of units of any other
form of expression, especially parts of artistic works: elements of a painting, scenes from a movie or sections from a musical composition.
The rest of this article addresses only written or oral quotations.
Reasons for using quotations
Quotations are used for a variety of reasons: to illuminate the
meaning or to support the arguments of the work in which it is being
quoted, or to provide direct information about the work being quoted
(whether in order to discuss it, positively or negatively, to pay
homage to the original work or author,
to make the user of the quotation seem well-read). Quotations are also
commonly printed as a means of inspiration and to invoke philosophical
thoughts from the reader.
Common quotation sources
Famous quotations are frequently collected in books that are sometimes called quotation dictionaries or treasuries. Of these, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, The Yale Book of Quotations and The MacMillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases
are considered among the most reliable and comprehensive sources.
Diaries and calendars often include quotations for entertainment or
inspirational purposes, and small, dedicated sections in newspapers and
weekly magazines — with recent quotations by leading personalities on
current topics — have also become commonplace. Chiefly through the World Wide Web, the Internet has become the most commonly used quotation repository.
Misquotations
The art of quotation is fraught with difficulties. If the source of
a quotation is not given it can lead readers to think that the author
using the quotation originated the thought or that he is being
dishonest. Some people are thought to have said certain things, but
there is no evidence of these words in any of their surviving writings:
in is the case, the words have merely been attributed to them. Many
quotations are routinely incorrect or attributed to the wrong authors,
and quotations from obscure writers are often attributed to far more
famous writers by lax quoters. Good examples of this are Winston Churchill, to whom many political quotations of uncertain origin are attributed, and Oscar Wilde, who is believed to have said far more witty things than he possibly could have.
Deliberate misquotation is very common either because the misquotation is better known
than the original or simply because the misquotation fits the situation
better. Possibly worse than misquotation is deliberate
misinterpretation, where an author's words are taken out of context and
are used to support a position or idea that the author would never have
agreed with and was not the author's intention. This can be especially
problematic with playwrights and authors of fiction who do not
necessarily agree with the sentiments of their characters.
Quotations and the Internet
Chiefly a text medium in the beginning, the World Wide Web
gave rise to any number of personal quotation collections that continue
to flourish, even though very few of them seem to facilitate accurate
information or correct citation. In June 27, 2003, a sister project of the Wikimedia Foundation called Wikiquote
was created as a free online encyclopedia of quotations in every
language and it is now the biggest single quotation collection in the
world.[citation needed]
The increase of written means of informal communication brought about by the Internet has produced the practice of using quotations as personal flags, as in one's own signature block. This is most commonly seen in email messages and Usenet posts, while is almost never seen in blog posts. Quotations are also popular as a user's personal message, a line under the user's nickname in some Instant Messaging
clients (and here they often go uncited). In all these cases,
quotations are usually included to give a glimpse of the user's
personality, to make a statement of their beliefs, or to spread views
and ideas.
The sheer bulk of online quotations, combined with more efficient search engines, has effectively made the Internet
the world's quotation storehouse, encompassing an unprecedented number
of easily obtainable quotations. Though matters of accuracy still
remain, features such as Amazon.com's Search Inside the Book and Google Print may serve to alleviate such concerns.
In mid-February 2007, a web startup called Quotations Book launched, with a new approach to viewing quotations. They indexed the volunteer-led Project Gutenberg,
and created surrounding text for classic quotations to be viewed in the
context of a classic book, using the 19,000+ books at Project Gutenberg
as the corpus (example). The site is a social network, expected to add features as time goes on [1].
See also
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
External links
Classical
from 
