In phrases as brief as a breath worldly wisdom concentrates.

Great quotation collections glean the millennia, distill essences, and battle for bragging rights about who’s bigger, who’s smarter, who’s best. Who-knows-who-said-what has a market, a history, and a hall of fame.

Cunning authors cut to be quoted.

Quotations calcify into clichés.

Quotologists encounter happy surprises, bright books by faded authors, treasures hidden under dust.

A little flattery, like a warm bath and soft towel, will let you get along with yourself, lie down with yourself, and sleep.

Like pollen on a honeybee, flattery clings to the things you tell yourself.