Blackadder1916
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 2,765
- Points
- 1,160
”I pick my favourite quotations and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence. “
Robert Burns
Are there (or should there be) specific criteria for adding items to the military quotes section?
Many times as I’ve opened the homepage, I’ve seen items in the military quote section that make me shake my head. Sometimes it’s because of errors in spelling, grammar or text (save those made by the original author), other times because of misattribution and occasionally because it is just dribble that’s been proposed as worthy of being quotable. Yesterday was one of those days. The quote that first appeared to me as I initiated my daily fix of army.ca. The name in the attribution was unfamiliar to me, but as the quote borrowed heavily from two quotations already well known and widely used, it made me wonder who was the author. Was she a fellow participant of this forum and simply wanted to see her name or had this (heavily plagiarized?) bit of questionable wisdom been previously published and some misbegotten individual thought it fitting to promulgate it further?
With a little googling I managed to find that the item in question had appeared on some other sites of quotations, but attribution was always to the author by name alone with no clarification as to date, source material or context. However, I did find a site that is about (maintained by?) the person that includes the quotation amongst others that dealt with the military. In trying to ascertain whether the author's credentials would justify inclusion, the best I could come up with is that she thinks she had military experiences in “past lives”. Belief in “past life” or “reincarnation” (or being otherwise delusional) should not automatically prelude one from being quotable (otherwise we would have to eliminate quotations from G.S. Patton). However, (IMO) there should be some minimum criteria for allowing quotations and (again IMO) this one should be excluded on not meeting such minimum standard. It would not be the only one that I would nominate for removal.
‘Classical quotation’ said Johnson ‘is the parole of literary men all over the world’.
So began* the first edition (1941) of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. I have the third edition (1979) but they include the first edition’s preface in their explanation of what is worthy of being quotable. It is not cut and dried in that publication either.
Mr. Johnson must be deemed very worthy of being quotable as eight and a half pages of that tome are devoted to his words that have become part of the parole of the reading public.
*(in The Compilers to The Readers section)
So, what makes a quotation quotable? Do we only quote the well-known simply because they are well-known? If so, then I fear for the fate of the English language.
After pondering this (not for long, I’m not that crazy) my conclusion was that the “ideal” quotation should meet the following criteria (some or all):
- originality of thought;
- insightfulness;
- well crafted of language;
- and in most cases the author should be recognized as being knowledgeable of his subject.
Of course sometimes the antithesis of those criteria can also produce a memorable quotation – otherwise few politicians would be quoted.
The quotations listed on this site should have a military flavour or connection but they could also have a additional purpose such as:
Motivational
Inspirational
Spiritual
Educational
Historical
Humourous (couldn't find a synonym ending in ‘al’ except ‘comical’)
Ideological
Philosophical
Idiotical, and
Allegorical
(if anyone thinks that sounds ‘Gilbert and Sullivan’esque, the intent was to make it “the very model of . . . “)
Though deliberately omitting those that might suggest the practice of using quotations is a sign one is unable to generate original thought, but here are a couple of quotations about quotations.
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. “ Winston Churchill
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. “ Marlene Dietrich
Nuggets of wisdom, wit or whimsy can occasionally be mined from the right quotation, but more often than not all you find in another’s words is fool’s gold. (that phrase is mine)
As I review my preceding words in the search for that deftly turned phrase that could be a lasting quotation, alas, I find none. But don’t quote me on that.
Robert Burns
Are there (or should there be) specific criteria for adding items to the military quotes section?
Many times as I’ve opened the homepage, I’ve seen items in the military quote section that make me shake my head. Sometimes it’s because of errors in spelling, grammar or text (save those made by the original author), other times because of misattribution and occasionally because it is just dribble that’s been proposed as worthy of being quotable. Yesterday was one of those days. The quote that first appeared to me as I initiated my daily fix of army.ca. The name in the attribution was unfamiliar to me, but as the quote borrowed heavily from two quotations already well known and widely used, it made me wonder who was the author. Was she a fellow participant of this forum and simply wanted to see her name or had this (heavily plagiarized?) bit of questionable wisdom been previously published and some misbegotten individual thought it fitting to promulgate it further?
With a little googling I managed to find that the item in question had appeared on some other sites of quotations, but attribution was always to the author by name alone with no clarification as to date, source material or context. However, I did find a site that is about (maintained by?) the person that includes the quotation amongst others that dealt with the military. In trying to ascertain whether the author's credentials would justify inclusion, the best I could come up with is that she thinks she had military experiences in “past lives”. Belief in “past life” or “reincarnation” (or being otherwise delusional) should not automatically prelude one from being quotable (otherwise we would have to eliminate quotations from G.S. Patton). However, (IMO) there should be some minimum criteria for allowing quotations and (again IMO) this one should be excluded on not meeting such minimum standard. It would not be the only one that I would nominate for removal.
‘Classical quotation’ said Johnson ‘is the parole of literary men all over the world’.
So began* the first edition (1941) of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. I have the third edition (1979) but they include the first edition’s preface in their explanation of what is worthy of being quotable. It is not cut and dried in that publication either.
Mr. Johnson must be deemed very worthy of being quotable as eight and a half pages of that tome are devoted to his words that have become part of the parole of the reading public.
*(in The Compilers to The Readers section)
So, what makes a quotation quotable? Do we only quote the well-known simply because they are well-known? If so, then I fear for the fate of the English language.
After pondering this (not for long, I’m not that crazy) my conclusion was that the “ideal” quotation should meet the following criteria (some or all):
- originality of thought;
- insightfulness;
- well crafted of language;
- and in most cases the author should be recognized as being knowledgeable of his subject.
Of course sometimes the antithesis of those criteria can also produce a memorable quotation – otherwise few politicians would be quoted.
The quotations listed on this site should have a military flavour or connection but they could also have a additional purpose such as:
Motivational
Inspirational
Spiritual
Educational
Historical
Humourous (couldn't find a synonym ending in ‘al’ except ‘comical’)
Ideological
Philosophical
Idiotical, and
Allegorical
(if anyone thinks that sounds ‘Gilbert and Sullivan’esque, the intent was to make it “the very model of . . . “)
Though deliberately omitting those that might suggest the practice of using quotations is a sign one is unable to generate original thought, but here are a couple of quotations about quotations.
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. “ Winston Churchill
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. “ Marlene Dietrich
Nuggets of wisdom, wit or whimsy can occasionally be mined from the right quotation, but more often than not all you find in another’s words is fool’s gold. (that phrase is mine)
As I review my preceding words in the search for that deftly turned phrase that could be a lasting quotation, alas, I find none. But don’t quote me on that.
