Yale Book of Quotations

Brand new reference work-- got myself this one as an early Christmas present. I leave it in the living room and enjoy reading through it in odd moments.

I don't buy many books. This is from a long habit of not having much money and having access to a wonderful county library. Nevertheless, when I heard a story on Public Radio's Morning Edition (November 9) about the new Yale Book of Quotations (ed. Fred R. Shapiro), I knew I wanted to add this one to my collection. It did not hurt that I got a very good price on Amazon.com plus free shipping.

According to Mr. Shapiro, "The ideal quotation should sparkle...Or it should be famous enough that it is a part of the 'conversation' of arts and ideas in a culture...." (Introduction, xviii). I have always enjoyed quotations, aphorisms, proverbs and the like. Something about truth or wit and economical packaging. I get a feeling of delight when I find a special quote. The quotes which really speak to me I add to my own collection on Spheremusic so you and I can enjoy them. They are designed to show up in random order on the home page.

As Joseph Epstein points out in the Foreword of the Yale Book of Quotations, "A dictionary of quotations is a useful reference work that can also be, I won't say a work of literature, but one that, through its editor's selections, yields pleasure in its own right. It can provide a guide of sorts to the spirit of the time in which it was compiled and published."

Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.
– Helen Gurley Brown (1922-2001)

You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
– Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973)

Let's roll!
– Todd M. Beamer (1968-2001; comment to fellow passengers preparing to challenge hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, 11.Sept. 2001)

The book includes current quotations from American popular culture as well as older quotes. There are sections for Advertising Slogans, Political Slogans, and Radio and Television Catchphrases, as well as many quotes from movies and popular songs. I would not have thought of this as a coffee table book, but I left it out and my visiting nephews and nieces (born in the 1970's) had a wonderful time reading through it.

Think different.
– Apple Computer advertising slogan

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else there's MasterCard.
– MasterCard credit card

The envelope, please.
– Academy Awards broadcasts

The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
– ABC's Wide World of Sports

You bet your sweet bippy.
– Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
– Woody Allen

Another feature was that the book was largely researched on the internet, using a network of librarians. Bartlett never had it so good, or presumably so accurate. The keyword index is more useful than a traditional subject index, IMHO. All in all, a very useful reference book as well as a good read.

There is nothing wonderful in that [playing the organ]; you only have to hit the right notes at the right time, and the instrument plays itself.
– Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Audentis Fortuna iuvat.
Fortune favors the brave.
– Virgil (70-19 BC; Aeneid, bk.10, l.284)

There is no such thing as 'the Queen's English.' The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!
– Mark Twain (1835-1910)

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)