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 citation or bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item with sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely. ...

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. Painter redirects here. ... “Moving picture” redirects here. ... Musical composition is: a piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance or recorded track). ...

The rest of this article will deal only with written or oral quotations.

Portia and Shylock (1835) by Thomas Sully The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1596 and 1598. ...

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). Authorship redirects here. ...

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, and The Yale Book of Quotations are considered 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 world's main quotation repository. Bartletts Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartletts, is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. ... The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is an 1100-page book listing short quotations that are common in English language and culture. ... The Yale Book of Quotations is a quotations collection that is noted for its focus on modern and American quotations and for its high level of scholarship and reliability. ... WWWs historical logo designed by Robert Cailliau The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. ...

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: when this is the case, the words have merely to be 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 probably could have. “Churchill” redirects here. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ... Look up Wit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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. A misquotation is an accidental or intentional misrepresentation of a persons speech or writing, involving one or more of: Omission of important context: The context can be important for determining the overall argument the quoted person wanted to make, for seeing whether the quoted statement was restricted or even... A famous non-quotation is a well-known phrase attributed to someone who, in fact, did not say it. ...

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. WWWs historical logo designed by Robert Cailliau The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. ... A citation or bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item with sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely. ... The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ...

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. A signature block (often abbreviated as signature, sig block, sig file, or just sig) is a block of text automatically appended at the bottom of an e-mail message, Usenet article, or forum post. ... E-mail, or email, is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. ... Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, decentralized, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ...

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. Google offers a variety of services and tools besides its basic web search. ...

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Quotation

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

EB1911:Quotation

• Citation
• Apophthegm
• Proverb
• Aphorism
• Cliché
• Adage
• Testimonial
• Maxim
• Epigram
• Misquotation
• Contextomy
• Spin (public relations)
• List of book titles taken from literature

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... A citation or bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item with sufficient detail to identify the item uniquely. ... An adage is a short, but memorable saying, which holds some important fact of experience that is considered true by many people, or it has gained some credibility through its long use. ... Look up proverb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or endorsement consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a public figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product. ... This article needs cleanup. ... An epigram is a short poem with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement. ... A misquotation is an accidental or intentional misrepresentation of a persons speech or writing, involving one or more of: Omission of important context: The context can be important for determining the overall argument the quoted person wanted to make, for seeing whether the quoted statement was restricted or even... // Contextomy Contextomy refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way that distorts the source’s intended meaning, a practice commonly (and erroneously) referred to as the fallacy of quoting out of context. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The following is a partial list of book titles taken from literature: Absalom, Absalom!, William Faulkner 2 Samuel, 19:4 A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting, Jonathan Swift After Many a Summer Dies the Swan, Aldous Huxley Tithonus, Alfred, Lord Tennyson All...

External links

• Beam me up, Scotty, by David McKie Guardian article discussing mis-quotations.
• Wikiquote: Wikipedia's sister project for quotations