[Q]uotations, like the words of our language itself, change in relevance and currency. – Robert Irvine Fitzhenry (1918–2008), The Harper Book of Quotations

Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. Many will read the book before one thinks of quoting a passage. As soon as he has done this, that line will be quoted east and west. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims, 1876

Perish the men who said our good things before us! – Aelius Donatus, quoted in Edge-Tools of Speech by Maturin M. Ballou, 1886

Quotable quotes are coins rubbed smooth by circulation. – Louis Menand, “Notable Quotables: Is there anything that is not a quotation?” 20