The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until an equal mind and heart finds and publishes it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
He presents me with what is always an acceptable gift who brings me news of a great thought before unknown. He enriches me without impoverishing himself.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Fine words!—I wonder where you stole them.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
The essence of a quote is the compression of a mass of thought and observation into a single saying.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Have at you with a proverb.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
It is the beauty and independent worth of the citations, far more than their appropriateness, which have made Johnson’s Dictionary popular even as a reading-book.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Too much traffic with a quotation book begets a conviction of ignorance in a sensitive reader. Not only is there a mass of quotable stuff he never quotes, but an even vaster realm of which he has never heard.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
I have only made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own but the thread that ties them together.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) British Essayist, Historian
The adventitious beauty of poetry may be felt in the greater delight with a verse given in a happy quotation than in the poem.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The next best thing to saying a good thing yourself, is to quote one.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Proverbs are always platitudes until you have personally experienced the truth of them.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
I do not speak the minds of others except to speak my own mind better.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
He wrapped himself in quotations—as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
The obscurest sayings of the truly great are often these which contain the germ of the profoundest and most useful truths.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–72) Italian Patriot, Political Leader
The multiplicity of facts and writings is become so great that everything must soon be reduced to extracts.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
I quote others only the better to express myself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Life itself is a quotation.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
There is no less invention in aptly applying a thought found in a book, than in being the first author of the thought.
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706) French Philosopher, Critic
Selected thoughts depend for their flavor upon the terseness of their expression, for thoughts are grains of sugar or salt, that must be melted in a drop of water.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) Swiss Poet
I hate quotations.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The next best thing to being clever is being able to quote someone who is.
—Mary Pettibone Poole American Aphorist
Quotation, sir, is a good thing; there is a community of mind in it: classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
A book that furnishes no quotations is no book—it is a plaything.
—Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) English Satirist, Novelist, Author
With just enough of learning to misquote.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
I must claim the quoter’s privilege of giving only as much of the text as will suit my purpose, said Tan-Chun. If I told you how it went on, I should end up by contradicting myself!
—Cao Xueqin (1715–63) Chinese Writer
A great man quotes bravely, and will not draw on his invention when his memory serves him with a word as good.—What he quotes he fills with his own voice and humor, and the whole cyclopedia of his table-talk is presently believed to be his own.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The power of quotation is as dreadful a weapon as any which the human intellect can forge.
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933) American Literary Critic, Essayist
Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer