Quotes & Sayings About Quoting Others

The young Centurion, who had been completely still throughout, said very softly, as though to himself, "Greater love hath no man
" and Justin thought it sounded as though he were quoting someone else. — Rosemary Sutcliff

That's the existential problem," Fat said, "based on the concept that We are what we do, rather than, We are what we think. It finds its first expression in Goethe's Faust, Part One, where Faust says, 'Im Anfang war das Wort'. He's quoting the opening of the Fourth Gospel; 'In the beginning was the Word.' Faust says, 'Nein. Im Anfang war die Tat.' In the beginning was the Deed. From this, all existentialism comes. — Philip K. Dick

Including the differential mortgage loan approval rates between Asian Americans and whites shows that the same methods to conclude that that blacks are discriminated against in mortgage lending would also lead to the conclusion that whites are discriminated against in favor of Asian Americans, reducing this whole procedure to absurdity, since no one believes that banks are discriminating against whites ... [W]hen loan approval rates are not cited, but loan denial rates are, that creates a larger statistical disparity, since most loans are approved. Even if 98 percent of blacks had their mortgage loan applications approved, if 99 percent of whites were approved than by quoting denial rates alone it could be said that blacks were rejected twice as often as whites. — Thomas Sowell

No worries" is the best thing to happen to sullen teenagers since I was one - even better than vampire sexting, GTL, or Call of Duty. When I was a sullen teenager, we had to make do wtih the vastly inferior "whatever".
"No worries" beats "whatever" six ways to Sunday. I'ts a vaguely mystical way of saying "I hear your mouth make noise, saying something that I plan to ignore." It has a noble Rasta-man vibe, as if you're quoting some sort of timeless yet meaningless proverb on the nature of change - "Soon come," or "As the cloud is slow, the wind is quick." In terms of ignoring provocation, "no worries" is just about perfect. — Rob Sheffield

A Bible-quoting erotica writer--you are quite the oxymoron. — Tiffany Reisz

When a reporter is quoting Sid Blumenthal on president Bush, you know he's scraping the barrel. — Andrew Sullivan

The boxes stood there, judging her. Who came up with the names for these things? Early Pregnancy Test was fine, but First Response? What was she, a 911 call? Little cardboard soldiers of doom, ready to deliver a message from the front lines that she had lost, and it was time to surrender to the truth. Never surrender! And now she was quoting cheesy 80s songs in her mind. This was how far she had fallen. — Julia Kent

For some of you, my quoting Jesus is the only way you will trust me; for others, it gives you more reasons to mistrust me, but I have to take both risks. If I dared to present all of these ideas simply as my ideas, or because they match modern psychology or old mythology, I would be dishonest. Jesus for me always clinches the deal, and I sometimes wonder why I did not listen to him in the first place. — Richard Rohr

An ally in time of need is worth more than gold.
(Lady Rose quoting Scholar Tan) — Michael Pryor

[Agatha Christie] is fond of quoting the witty wife who once said, 'an archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her.
Christie's husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist. — Nigel Dennis

A transcription doesn't so much repeat words as contextualize and historicize them, uniting them with the time, place, and source of their utterance. A transcript reproduces the words it records; it does not use them. Quoting is an attitude and practice, central to aesthetic and literary experiences as different from each other as the sublime and camp. — William Flesch

Firstly, being a local councillor, he was probably a cunt! A real 'book-waving-starch-underpants-wearing-precedent - quoting-sub-section-paragraph-thee-looking-up' sort of arsehole who lived his life by the numbers and reported his neighbours if they so much as tried to put up a bird-table without planning permission. — Danny King

(Quoting Goethe
We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last destroy them out of discretion, and so disappears the most beautiful, the most immediate breath of life, irrecoverably for ourselves and for others. — James Howe

The patriarchy longs for the days 'when men were men' and women were oppressed, subservient - and they can see no wrong in it. It justifies its former power and lust to hold on to it - and if possible, to regain it by quoting fundamentalist and radical religion and tradition and calling it 'love'. Some love. How can oppression and power over another person's life ever be 'love'? — Christina Engela

Quoting God's Word in the present tense infuses our hearts with holy restraint and diffuses our reactions so we don't spew. — Lysa TerKeurst

Kagan's law of first contact,'You'll surprise you more than they will. — Janet Kagan

Keep calm, they said on television. Everything is under control. I was stunned. Everyone was, I know that. It was hard to believe. The entire government, gone like that. How did they get in, how did it happen? That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on. Look out, said Moira to me, over the phone. Here it comes. Here what comes? I said. You wait, she said. They've been building up to this. It's you and me up against the wall, baby. She was quoting an expression of my mother's, but she wasn't intending to be funny. — Margaret Atwood

Quoting from Neil Kinnock, running against Thatcher in 1987:
Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Is it because all our predecessors were thick? Did they lack talent? Those people who could sing, and play, and recite, and write poetry, those people who could make wonderful things with their hands? Those people who could dream dreams, see visions? Why didn't they get it? Was it because they were weak? Those people who could work eight hours underground and then come up and play football? Weak? Those women who could survive eleven childbearings? Were they weak? Anybody really think that they didn't get what we have because they didn't have the talent, or the strength, or the endurance, or the commitment? Of course not. It was because there was no platform on which they could stand. — Joe Biden

Quoting an old proverb: "An empty cart rattles loudly." she said. meaning, One who lacks substance boasts loudest. — Alan Brennert

Hutte was always saying that, in the end, we are all "beach men" and that "the sand"--I am quoting his own words-- keeps the traces of our footsteps only a few moment — Patrick Modiano

In quoting of books, quote such authors as are usually read; others you may read for your own satisfaction, but not name them. — John Selden

I quote others only in order the better to express myself. — Michel De Montaigne

People quoting others have nothing of their own to offer. — Moris Mateljan

First my copy was sent back to me with a note: "Please call ASAP regarding portrayal of Cossacks as primitive monsters." It turned out that my copy was lacking in cultural sensitivity toward Cossacks. I tried to explain that, far from calling Cossacks primitive monsters, I was merely suggesting that others had considered Cossacks to be primitive monsters. The coordinator, however, said that this was my mistake: others didn't consider Cossacks to be primitive monsters; in fact, "Cossacks have a rather romantic image."
I considered quoting to her the entry for Cossack in Flaubert's Dictionary of Received ideas: "Eats tallow candles"; but then the burden of proof would still be on me to show that tallow candles are a primitive form of nourishment. Instead I adopted the line that the likelihood of any Cossacks actually attending the exhibit was very slim. But the editor said this wasn't the point, "and anyway you never know in California. — Elif Batuman

One must never miss an opportunity of quoting things by others which are always more interesting than those one thinks up oneself. — Marcel Proust

In quoting others, we cite ourselves. — Julio Cortazar

Perfection is not attainable," he used to say, quoting Vince Lombardi. "But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence. — Kathryn Perez

...There is no friendship in the desert, there is no love. The Sahara only knows allies and accomplices. [Hopkins quoting B. Gysin's The Process] — John Hopkins

When I quote Scripture, I know I am quoting the very Word of God. — Billy Graham

Other examples of human-sourced pharmaceuticals surely causing more distress than they relieved include strips of cadaver skin tied around the calves to prevent cramping, "old liquified placenta" to "quieten a patient whose hair stands up without cause" (I'm quoting Li Shih-chen on this one and the next), "clear liquid feces" for worms ("the smell will induce insects to crawl out of any of the body orifices and relieve irritation"), fresh blood injected into the face for eczema — Mary Roach

And proceeding to follow the example of the devil in quoting Scripture for his own ends I added: She looketh to the ways of her household ... . — Agatha Christie

dies novus est," he said, quoting one of Flora's favorite Latin expressions. "Tomorrow is a new day. — Gillian Anderson

Don't you think you're a little old now to be quoting The Chronicles of Narnia?' I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
'You read Harry Potter,' Will protests.
'Everyone reads Harry Potter,' I exclaim. 'It's an institution. Besides, it's not really a kids book, it's a metaphor for the world at large. It's almost philosophical in its way. — Jennifer Gilby Roberts

It's OK to quote from your past. But I'm more interested in quoting from my present and pointing towards the future. — Robert Plant

When a German soldier is running at you, there's no point quoting Virgil at him, you're better off kicking a football in his face. — Cesca Major

Thank you, Gillian Flynn, for quoting The Sure Thing- Nick's the kind of guy you can drink a beer with, the kind of guy who doesn't mind if you puke in his car. Nick! — Gillian Flynn

Likewise, she will know that if I start watching reality TV, quoting Dr. Phil, riding roller coasters, and seem to have forsaken bacon in favor of anything soy - it's time to Get the Pillow. That's what - well, I can't tell you who but she's a nurse - says they all say when they've got a particularly cantankerous patient on their wing. — Jill Conner Browne

But the Dashnak Hairenik Weekly was merciless. Quoting the accounts of a few escapees, it depicted Soviet Armenian as a locus not just of economic misery, but moral degradation: Godlessness, Atheism, Immorality, Robbery and perpetual spying on one another! There is not a trace of our family sanctities left there. Having repudiated the idea of the existence of a God, the Bolshevik ignores every conception of family standards, every moral principle, every social order. Aram's wife or watch equally can belong to Hagop, Ali, or Stalin. There is no conception of nationality. A Kurd, a Caucasian, a Georgian, or a Turk have the right to become your son-in-law when they wish it. They have the right to divorce the very next day.26 — Thomas De Waal

Instead of quoting the Buddha, be the Buddha, be "the awakened one," which is what the word buddha means. — Eckhart Tolle

When I'm talking to people, I find myself quoting the three organizing rules of Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter was initiated by three young women, and too few people know that. But, anyway, the first one is lead with love. The second is low ego, high impact. The third is move with the speed of trust. I must say those make me feel very hopeful for the future. — Gloria Steinem

As to whether a poem has been written by a great poet or not, this is important only to historians of literature. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that I have written a beautiful line; let us take this as a working hypothesis. Once I have written it, that line
does me no good, because, as I've already said, that line came to me from the Holy Ghost, from the subliminal self, or perhaps from some other writer. I often find I am merely quoting something I read some time ago, and then that becomes a rediscovering. Perhaps it is better that a poet should be nameless. — Jorge Luis Borges

I'm quoting Margaret Thatcher. I quote her frequently. — Carly Fiorina

Times are really bad. Everyone is writing a book and quoting themselves. — Omar Kiam

I don't like to quote myself but unfortunately everybody I know who should be quoting me is dead. — Irving Brecher

The primary function of the government is - and here I am quoting directly from the U.S. Constitution - 'to spew out paper.' — Dave Barry

Abe, why do you not just add that Christians slaughter their newborns, are child molesters and F**k sheep, as then you would complete the arguments of Minicius Felix who you are eager to reproduce without quoting him? — Cay Hasselmann