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Should you use quotations in your conversations?
My answer is "yes." At least, use them occasionally.
Why use quotations? Because quotations can add spice to ordinary talk, which can be characterized as mostly routine. If people use quotations at all, their quotations tend to be worn-out, deadly clich�s.
Quotations can add humor and levity
This is my main purpose for using quotations. For example, when someone asks me where I grew up, I tell them near "Duluth, Minnesota."
"Wow!" they respond. That's a cold part of the country, isn't it?
"Yes," I add: "Bob Hope said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in Duluth." 99% of the time, I get a chuckle.
To describe someone who performs a high-risk experiment without adequate information, I might say "Mark Twain said that a fellow who picks a cat up by the tail gets a hundred times as much information as one who's never done it."
Using the source on the front end of a humorous quotation prepares the listener to expect humor. I always give credit to the source, and the source name adds to the quotation. For humor, I use a few dozen favorite quotations of Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Jay Leno,Mark Twain, Lily Tomlin, Mae West, and W.C. Fields.
Quotations can add authority to your talk.
By quoting respected experts, we can add some "heft" to our words. For example, the concept of diplomacy backed by military might was colorfully (and memorably) expressed by President Teddy Roosevelt's advice to "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Of all the millions of words uttered by special people like politicians, artists, authors, scientists, philosophers, and leaders of movements, only a few remain poignant and pithy enough for posterity. These are nuggets that condense language into insight or wisdom.
Here's a nugget from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche:
"If we have a 'why' to live, we can endure almost any 'how'."
Another favorite, this by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
For romance, quote your beloved a love poem.
Remember the success of Cyrano de Bergerac? Or Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "How do I love you? Let me count the ways." Or Shakespeare's words describing Cleopatra: "Age cannot wither, nor custom stale, her infinite variety."
From the Broadway musical, "Kiss Me, Kate!," men get this good advice from a song:
"Brush up your Shakespeare,
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare
And the women you will wow."
Cautions about using quotations:
If you use quotations too often, you may appear to be showing off, and nobody likes a smarty-pants showoff. As I see it, the purpose of using quotations is to enrich the conversation, not to elevate the speaker.
A few generations ago, it was standard practice in the public schools that students commit to memory both poems and historical documents. Most eighth graders could recite the Gettysburg Address or Walt Whitman's "Captain, My Captain." High school students memorized Shakespearean sonnets and the Declaration of Independence. Sunday school students memorized proverbs and parables from scriptures. But those practices are no longer in fashion.
Because I don't want to be seen as either pedantic or old-fashioned, I use quotations judiciously and only when they are directly related to the topic being discussed. And I always give credit to the authors. As W.C. Fields might say about my practice, "Anyone who gives credit where it's due can't be all bad."
Spice up your conversation by memorizing a few powerful quotations. You can easily search for best ones online, especially the "Quotes of the Day" site. Try this. I think you'll like it.
Until next week,
Loren
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