Quote/Unquote

The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
- Mark Twain

Quoting rose first and foremost with the emergence of the newspaper industry. It rose to prominence, however, alongside the world wide web. Gathering quote databases within the net became easy to handle and even more easy to find. So, what're the problems with quoting, and why do we do it?

Misquotation, with intent or without, is a real problem when quoting. The picture I have above is an excellent example of an intended misquote. Quotes often require some understanding of the social context they've been given in, and perhaps the most problematic thing about quotes is that they're often taken out of context, blown out of proportion and misused for something else entirely. I use the term misuse rather liberally: it is, after all, a question of perception what is misuse and what is not.

Quoting is an easy way to say something that is (or atleast seems like) thoughtful and interesting without much personal effort. Just find something pretty close to what you wanted to say said by someone else and quote. Overuse of quotes, however, especially ones that are often used or famous for some reason or another can lead to the quotee seeming rather foolish: if all your discourse is made out of quotes, you don't come out as too interesting or original, mostly just dull. Rapt and apt use of quotes, however, can make you seem witty, well-educated and smart: it's a precision sport.

The Mark Twain quote at the beginning of this post is, in my opinion, an extremely well put view on life. I guess I'm still waiting on day two, but I agree with the point. Mark Twain is often misquoted, though, with dozens of quotes attributed to him that had nothing whatsoever to do with the man. Most people won't notice stuff like this, since Twain is remembered as a witty, quotable fellow. Those that notice, though, will probably think it a bit foolish and, if done in excess, a bit more than a bit foolish.

With quotes, one should probably not quoth the raven, but some caution might be worth exercising before throwing someone else's words in the ring.