We sometimes think of quotations as extracts from larger texts, but some quotations originated complete unto themselves.

A single gnomic line can come to resonate with centuries of subsequent wisdom.

Reframing an extract as a quotation constitutes a kind of coauthorship. With no change in wording, the cited passage becomes different. I imagine that the thrill of making an anthology includes the opportunity to become such a coauthor.

Some lines are born quotations, some are made quotations, and some have "quotation" thrust upon them.

Anatole France frankly advised, "When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it." Yes, indeed, but do more. Copy many well-said things. Pierce them together. Assimilate them. Make the process of reading them a way to form the mind and shape the soul. As anthologies can never be complete, we will never exhaust the ways quotations can enrich our lives.

The attribution of a speaker is in fact a part of the quotation. Some statements simply are better if a certain famous person said them.

We sometimes think of quotations as extracts from larger texts, but some quotations originated complete unto themselves.