I am reminded of the professor who, in his declining hours, was asked by his devoted pupils for his final counsel. He replied, Verify your quotations. – Sir Winston Churchill

Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure. – Agnes Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976)

Great quotation collections glean the millennia, distill essences, and battle for bragging rights about who’s bigger, who’s smarter, who’s best. Who-knows-who-said-what has a market, a history, and a hall of fame. – Willis Goth Regier, Quotology, 2010

It should be a pleasure to the appreciative reader, while recognizing their beauty, to cull these flowers of thought for the benefit of those who, less fortunate than himself, have not the time to indulge in literary pleasures. – Maturin M. Ballou, January 1886, preface to Edge-Tools of Speech