A Quote met a Quote on the Avenue One Day
December 1, 2018 2:09 PM Subscribe
And held a conversation In their own peculiar way Critic David Garner has emptied out his commonplace book, and arranged his favorite quotes in the form of a conversation. However jaded you may be by Bartlett's and its hundred sisters, you're sure to find something new here.
Oh, fuck, not another elf.
– Hugo Dyson, as J.R.R. Tolkien read aloud an early draft of The Lord of the Rings
posted by q*ben at 3:55 PM on December 1, 2018 [4 favorites]
– Hugo Dyson, as J.R.R. Tolkien read aloud an early draft of The Lord of the Rings
posted by q*ben at 3:55 PM on December 1, 2018 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter: Why are you all reading? I don’t understand this reading business when there is so much fucking to be done.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:26 PM on December 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:26 PM on December 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Dwight Garner
posted by hwestiii at 4:28 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hwestiii at 4:28 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
I, myself, have hundreds of pages of collected quotes on my computer. Several years ago, I turned some of them into a self-published quote book, and I regularly post quotes about writing and creativity to my blog. They've come in handy in the occasional AskMe when someone needs particular sorts of quotes. In recent years, I have added to my collection from comments by MeFites. It is a delight to go through them every so often and remember the wisdom and humor I've gathered. Garner's book should prove to be a valuable addition.
posted by bryon at 4:55 PM on December 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bryon at 4:55 PM on December 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Confusion hath fuck his masterpiece.
– William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
posted by Artw at 5:49 PM on December 1, 2018
– William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
posted by Artw at 5:49 PM on December 1, 2018
See also: Jonathan Lethem The Ecstasy of Influence
posted by lalochezia at 6:00 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by lalochezia at 6:00 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thanks for this, and bonus points for “The Babbitt and the Bromide.”
posted by the sobsister at 5:22 AM on December 2, 2018
posted by the sobsister at 5:22 AM on December 2, 2018
Excerpts from my own commonplace book:
“Nicholas struck Anne as more pathetic than he had before. He was just one of those Englishmen who was always saying silly things to sound less pompous, and pompous things to sound less silly. They turned into self-parodies without going to the trouble of acquiring a self first.”
--Edward St. Aubyn, Never Mind
“You have my cordial scorn.”
--Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent
“I don’t believe in fighting, but sometimes, you gotta stand up for what you believe in. Unfortunately, I was drunk enough to believe in everything.”
--Jim Anchower, “The Cruise: Love Is for Suckers,” The Onion
You're welcome. Anybody else?
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 4:24 PM on December 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
“Nicholas struck Anne as more pathetic than he had before. He was just one of those Englishmen who was always saying silly things to sound less pompous, and pompous things to sound less silly. They turned into self-parodies without going to the trouble of acquiring a self first.”
--Edward St. Aubyn, Never Mind
“You have my cordial scorn.”
--Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent
“I don’t believe in fighting, but sometimes, you gotta stand up for what you believe in. Unfortunately, I was drunk enough to believe in everything.”
--Jim Anchower, “The Cruise: Love Is for Suckers,” The Onion
You're welcome. Anybody else?
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 4:24 PM on December 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
Lots, as I also keep a commonplace book, but...
"His head was large, his muzzle blunt, his ears pointed different ways; he developed brusque, selective barking, like an old colonel suddenly moved to write to the papers." --Hilary Mantel, A Change of Climate
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:13 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
"His head was large, his muzzle blunt, his ears pointed different ways; he developed brusque, selective barking, like an old colonel suddenly moved to write to the papers." --Hilary Mantel, A Change of Climate
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:13 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
This was a great chance to flip through my current commonplace book. A lot of the quotes I've copied down are significant to me because of something that was happening in my life at the time. There are few where I now regret not providing a little context to go with the quote - a good learning. Here are two that I quite liked:
Thoughts of his own death,
like the distant roll
of thunder at a picnic
- W. H. Auden, Marginalia (1965-68)
How many times can summer turn to fall in one life? - Charles Wright, from Negative Blue
posted by kovacs at 6:31 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thoughts of his own death,
like the distant roll
of thunder at a picnic
- W. H. Auden, Marginalia (1965-68)
How many times can summer turn to fall in one life? - Charles Wright, from Negative Blue
posted by kovacs at 6:31 PM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've a dozen quotation books on my shelf but far and away my favorite is the one edited by WH Auden, hiding underneath the plain title of The Viking Book of Aphorisms.
"His soul will never starve for exploits or excitements who is wise enough to be made a fool of. To be 'taken in everywhere' is to see the inside of everything" - G.K. Chesterton.
posted by storybored at 9:49 AM on December 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
"His soul will never starve for exploits or excitements who is wise enough to be made a fool of. To be 'taken in everywhere' is to see the inside of everything" - G.K. Chesterton.
posted by storybored at 9:49 AM on December 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
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I love this--I imagine it as a cross between The Novel Cure and The Meaning of Liff. You're melancholy? Here are bits of wisdom others have left behind about that state. Baffled by your best friend's bad decisions? Need a few words of snarky farewell? Having a fit of pique about the carefully chosen outfit which turned out to be completely unsuitable to the occasion? You are not alone... Or like a Harper's list...
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:39 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]