I heard it from Oscar

One of life's golden rules is that if you cannot remember who originally said a quotation, attribute it to Oscar Wilde. He apparently did that himself, in a well-known (and probably completely fictional, but bear with me) exchange, he was listening to someone speak and observed to a friend,
"I wish I had said that." His friend replied, without missing a beat, "You will, Oscar, you will."

So it was a pleasure to find this New York Times article about the joys of quotation-collecting. As someone who collects quotations himself, I mentally cheered after reading the first paragraphs:

I used to wish I could live through the words of other writers. Unpleasant questions would be parried with crisp couplets and song lyrics; strong feelings and opinions would be given third-person protection. I wouldn't have to censor myself because my own prose wasn't up to the mark. Unreliable or omniscient, I would be the narrator in control.

So I kept notebooks of quotations. Lots of people do. Reading them over lets you scan your own temperament. The words of writers you admire provide a trustworthy language for your desires and for how you'll feel when life ambushes them. They relieve you from being brave enough to say what feels unsayable. Notebooks like this are an informal history of your reading."

That's all absolutely right. Go read the whole thing, and then follow Churchill's advice - "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations" - and start collecting quotations for yourself.

Comments

[Helena]

On the subject of Oscar Wilde, I just read The Picture Of Dorian Gray, and have to recommend it to anyone with any appreciation of literature - and anyone with an interest in collecting quotations. Not only does this book - a personal favourite - have many fantastic ones, 'Only shallow people do not judge by appearances' and 'Man can marry any woman as long as he does not love her' (or something similar), he also inspires people to write, much like our own Sebastion Cameron. I came across a sentence 'To define is to limit' - was that the inspiration for your poem Definitions? (Very good by the way I suggest everyone reads it). I have to say this book has made me reasess my whole philosophy on life. If anyone's interested, go buy a copy! On second thoughts - the majority of you will probably have all read it and I'm just a little late to join the party...