Thursday, March 10, 2011

1449 Re-Quoted

It’s not often I encounter a bunch of quotes that I love all at once, but I did so the other day when I was reading a magazine called The Week. They have a little section in it called Wit and Wisdom, and in that section they feature quotable quotes from non-quotidian quotable quoticians.
Since “The Week” is a summary of the news from various news outlets, the quotes they publish were themselves quoted by other publications. And since I am now re-quoting them as well, you can consider these quotes cubed.
If I didn’t re-quote them, and yet still loved them, you could say I had an experience in un-re-quoted love...
First, from A.A. Milne, and quoted in the Buffalo News, then The Week, and now here. “The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority, the first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.”
I think you will all think that’s pretty clever.
And here’s another. The original statement came from Isaac Singer, and he was quoted in the Village Voice, The Week, and now here. The quote?
“We have to believe in free will. We have no choice.”
And finally, in what is also the justification for this piece of near plagiarization, which it is not actually, since I took great pains to attribute appropriately, this quote of Andre’ Gide quoted in the Milwaukee Courier, and The Week, and now here.
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
I’m thinking I had no choice but to follow his suggestion.
You can quote me on that.
America, ya gotta love it.

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