All quotation dictionaries stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, which must be consulted as part of the effort to make sure that no famous quotations are missed. – Fred R. Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations, 2006 (Acknowledgements)

To quote copiously and well, requires taste, judgment, and erudition, a feeling for the beautiful, an appreciation of the noble, and a sense of the profound. – Christian Nestell Bovee, “Thought,” Institutions and Summaries of Thought, 1862

Most anthologists of quotations are like those who eat cherries or oysters; first picking the best ones and winding up by eating everything. – Sebastian Roch Nicolas Chamfort

I never have found the perfect quote. At best I have been able to find a string of quotations which merely circle the ineffable idea I seek to express. – Attributed to Caldwell O’Keefe in The Trademark Reporter, Vol.93, 2003