Questions tagged [quotes]
For questions related to a fairly well-known sentence or phrase that is widely understood to have originated in a publicly available text or speech, in many cases attributed to a famous person (or multiple famous people). See also the "quotations" tag.
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Confused by the syntax or grammaticality used in this quote by Karl Marx. Please help?
The quote is from the Manifesto of the Communist Party:
No sooner is the exploitation of the labourer by the manufacturer, so far, at an end, that he receives his wages in cash, than he is set upon ...
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Sardonic or sarcastic tone?
Is this sentence sarcastic or sardonic?
"But that, as far as I can tell, is not my point." (from Dave Barry's "Lost in the Kitchen")
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Punctuation for nested quotes at the end of a sentence
This is something I've gone back and forth on with a couple of writer friends and nobody is ever really sure what the correct punctuation format is, or whether there really is a format that's ...
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What are the origins of the phrase "lead from behind"?
I'm aware of the phrase being used by Nelson Mandela in the context of servant leadership (as well as a few other leaders - What does “Lead from behind” exactly mean?), but I thought this phrase was ...
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Using a short quote at the beginning of a chapter
I want to use a short quote as an opener to a chapter in a university homework.
Is there a literary term for this?
How would I typeset the proverb shown most correctly for American English?
Quotes:...
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Is this a Fallacy: "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right"? [closed]
This is in my quote collection and said by some Salvor Hardin. I forgot when and why I had added it to the collection, but now that I was randomly going through it, this quote has just stumped me.
I ...
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Are there previous formulations of this quote from George R.R. Martin
I love this quote from George R.R. Martin — 'A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.'
I just learned today of a similar formulation from St. Augustine -...
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quote/phrase for "more likely to use something if it is right there"
I am looking for a saying/quote/phrase that says that people are more likely to use something if it is right there and ready for use than if they need to put in effort to do so.
A simple example ...
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Meaning and interpretation of Bilbo's "half as well" quote
In The Lord of The Rings, Bilbo says the following to his assembled guests at his eleventy first birthday party:
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like
less than half ...
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How is the word "nay" used in this sentence? [closed]
I've been trying to figure out the meaning of the following quotation from the Discourses on Livy by Niccolo Machiavelli, translated by Ninian Hill Thomson:
The mass of mankind accept what seems as ...
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What does "The past is never where you think you left it" mean?
It's a quote by Katherine Anne Porter. Does it mean "past won't happen again", or something different?
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Meaning of "It’s when you can’t even feel pain anymore that you're in real trouble" [closed]
Still, being able to feel pain was good, she thought. It’s when you can’t even feel pain anymore that you're in real trouble.
What does this saying mean?
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What did Francis Bacon mean when he wrote this?
"There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between equals, which was wont to be magnified. That that is, is between superior and inferior, whose fortunes may comprehend the one the ...
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direct quote and adding a remark
I am currently writing an academic text and need to directly quote/cite text from a paper. What is best practice when I need to add a remark/note to the quote?
For instance, I would do it like this: ...
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Meaning of this Samuel Johnson quote [closed]
"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking how things may be to see them as they are." - Samuel Johnson
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Meaning of this Ben Jonson quote
Many men believe not themselves what they would persuade others; and less do the things which they would impose on others, but least of all know what they themselves most confidently boast.
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Quotes vs. colon convention [duplicate]
How do the following options differ in what they imply?
Option 1
The real question is: what do you want to achieve?
Option 2
The real question is, "What do you want to achieve?"
Is there an ...
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The proper use of Quotes with parenthesis, brackets, and braces [closed]
"{bla bla bla}"
Do the quote marks go inside or outside the braces.
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When I am quoting something does it need to be incorporated into my own sentence? (Also, should I use an ellipsis?)
I am writing an essay for my English class. At one point I make a statement about the book and end the sentence. Afterwards I've inserted a direct quote from the book on its own. Here's an example:
...
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What does "Polite conversation is rarely either" mean?
What does the quote by Fran Lebowitz "Polite conversation is rarely either" mean?
Does it mean "If it's polite it's likely not a conversation, if it's a conversation it's likely not polite?"
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Is it acceptable to put quotes around trending new words? .. in material that is long lasting?
The following page has the sentence
That makes them easily "mockable" for testing purposes, so you could create a MyMockTable : IMobileServiceTable<TodoItem> that implements your testing ...
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What does "outstubborn" mean?
Came across the following quote:
Never try to outstubborn a cat.
Googling did not help. What does Outstubborn mean?
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What is it called when you change a well known quote to suit your subject? [duplicate]
For example, for the original quote we shall use, "One swallow does not a summer make". If someone were to say "One good quote does not a philosopher make" (No dig at Aristotle intended...), or "A ...
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Comma use in complex title
This, as put forth by Marc Cyr in his essay titled “Randall Jarrell’s Answerable Style: Revision of Elegy in ‘The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner[,]’[,]” is likely Jarrell’s intent.
Where should the ...
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What is the meaning of this quote as it applies to Native Americans? [closed]
Here is the quote:
The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
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What specific federal laws do you think Thoreau contended made him "an agent of injustice" toward the slaves? [closed]
if the unjustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go...perchance it will wear smooth-certainly the machine will wear out... if it is of such a nature that it ...
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Source of "If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour" [closed]
What is the origin of the following quote:
If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour
I'm familiar with the phrase 'If the shoe fits...' and I'm curious as to whether this is a derivative and ...
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How do I deal with double quotes?
I'm writing a genre essay on the novel Breaking Dawn, and the beginning of the quote I want to use starts with quotation marks, like so:
"My venom," he answered as he pushed the plunger down.
So ...
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Meaning of "indispensable" in Thoreau quote [closed]
Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind. ~ "Walden", Henry David Thoreau
In my dictionary ...
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Is there a specific word that means, "a quote from a poem?"
I was wondering if there is a simpler way to say, "a quote from a poem." I thought about the word excerpt, but that seems to apply to a bigger chunk of writing. Whereas in this instance, I am ...
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Did not get William Shakespeare's quote - "A fool thinks himself to be..."
A very well known quote by William Shakespeare
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
The first half is okay - a fool thinks himself to be wise (he's in that ...
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IEEE referencing standards [closed]
I'm writing a report and I need to use IEEE referencing standards in my work. I am referencing work as well as directly quoting it, sometimes immediately afterwards for example.
Put simply, “the ...
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Quotation: If I quote a nickname for a team do I have to quote it everytime I use it?
I'm writing an essay about the violence caused by Manchester United fans during the 1990s. In the article I'm basing my essay off of they say they call themselves "Jibbers." If I quote the nikcname ...
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phrase for when something is a benefit only if you're strong enough
I'm looking for a well-known phrase/idiom/quote/expression to express the meaning that something is good for you but only when you can handle it.
For example, some medicine can cure a disease but ...
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What's the message of this Yogi Berra quote?
There are some people who, if they don't already know, you can't tell 'em.
- Yogi Berra
Does it mean you don't know how good or bad some people are unless you get too close to them? (i.e., you can't ...
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Punctuation question: quote within a quote at the end of a sentence
This is something I've always been a little bit unclear about. When writing dialogue where a person is quoting someone else, and that quote is at the end of a sentence, I'm not quite sure how the ...
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What is the meaning of this life quote? [closed]
I am trying (but failing) to understand the meaning of this life quote:
Trying is a part of failing. If you are afraid to fail then you are afraid to try.
Can you explain what it means?
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What does this quote mean: "Why is this thus? And what is the reason for this thusness?
In the movie 'Lincoln', Abraham Lincoln portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis says this to Representative Ashley:
"Why for instance is this thus, and what is the reason for this thusness."
What does that ...
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Usage of question and exclamation marks with quotation marks in work of fiction
I am writing a novel. I have doubts how should I use question marks and exclamation marks in conjunction with quotation marks.
I have written 5 separate sentences to illustrate this issue:
He ...
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How do I interpret "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"?
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
- Salvor Hardin
This sentence has always struck me as a bit off. I see two ways to interpret it:
If violence is your last option, you are ...
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Source of the cliche "[these] diminished times"?
I believe the phrase "diminished times" is a common expression or cliche, maybe a quotation, but I haven't been able to find the source. Is it a cliche, and where does it come from?
P.S. After @...
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Do I need quote marks when I quote myself? [closed]
Hello language lovers,
English isn't my first language and I would like to know if I need to use quotation marks when I quote something I said in the past.
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Lessing's Quote and its meaning [closed]
I am reading Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning". On Page 32 the author attributes a quote to Lessing which goes as follows:
There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you ...
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Meaning of Samuel Johnson quote on puns [closed]
It seems like every article on puns written in the last 150 years (most recently in The Atlantic) includes this quote by Samuel Johnson, who compiled the 1755 Dictionary of the English Language and ...
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Quote about windows [closed]
I'm not sure if this is where I should be asking this.. But it seemed to be the most appropriate community on StackExchange.
Anyways, I'm setting up a Google+ page for a small business that does ...
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What does "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig" mean? [closed]
It's a quote by Robert Heinlein. I'm curious to hear its deeper meaning.
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Quoting poems with omitting a conjunction
Ulysses
...; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in ...
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proper way of attributing a writer's note within a quote [duplicate]
In journalistic writing, if I need to attach some necessary background information within a quote, what's the proper way to do it? I want to indicate that the information is something that I've ...
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Why soothe a savage breast?
In William Congreve's The Mourning Bride (1697), the first line of the play, spoken by Almeria in Act I, Scene 1 is
Music has charms to soothe a savage breast
This is frequently (and ...
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Meaning of the Oscar Wilde quote about the "tragedy of old age"
What does this quote by Oscar Wilde actually mean?
"The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young"
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