"Quote Unquote"

Last night, as usual I attended the twice monthly meeting of the Society of Quotationists, a “select” group of writers, orators, and of course librarians brought together by our love of quotes.

As we always do, the meeting was opened with the words of the 18th Century British writer Issac D’Israeli. “Quotes,” he wrote, “preserve the wisdoms and experiences of the ages and at the same time serve as ‘requisite ornaments’ in fine writing and speech.”

“Here, here!” said one of our members, amid the round of applause…pausing before he added, “I do have an important piece of information to pass on though…about John Bartlett.”

Suddenly, the room went quiet at just the mention of the name Bartlett—the scholar and historian who compiled the first edition of his eponymous work “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations” in 1855.

“It seems,” said the member, “Bartlett borrowed much of “his” work from a previous compiler of quotes—Isabella Rushton Preston, who in 1853 published the original collection in the “Handbook of Familiar Quotations from English Authors.”

Everyone in the room was aghast, but then someone broke the silence and said, “Well…no one is perfect!”

“Yes,” said someone else. “Karma will take care of him…in his next life. Let’s let bygones be bygones!” And with that the meeting continued.

It was a good meeting with an emphasis on the quotes of the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Someone brought up “Life isn’t about finding yourself…it’s about creating yourself.”

“That’s a good one,” said someone else, “but, my favorite is ‘Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, then you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will.’”

“You’re all so pedantic,” said the group cynic. “How about, ‘I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.’”

“Very amusing,” said one of the writers, as more Shaw quotes were introduced. “Seems to me,” said one of the librarians, “Shaw is one of the world’s greatest quotidians, and we could go on forever, but I suggest we adjourn for tonight and continue with GBS at our next meeting.”

On the way home, I thought more about quotes. They really are little pieces of poetry that among other things can serve as inspirational guideposts, admonitions, or be just plain amusing, and I was so glad to be a member of Quotidians.

And then I thought, why not bring some of these quotes to the readers of Youtropolis? So, look for my new column “Quotes From the Librarian,” coming soon!