Monday, December 08, 2014
Why quote quotations in speeches?
Author Eric Webster started every chapter of his books with quotations. I remember typing them out for him when I was his PA in the last year of his life at Pembertons Advertising Agency which became Colman Prentis and Varley. I sat typing in an office overlooking Baker Street station and the spot where a statue of Sherlock Holmes now stands.
Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character but based on a real person. Why do we quote him? What does quotation do for us?
'Elementary, dear Watson,' we would have said, laughing, if we had seen the statue. Eric was the author of a best-selling practical book, How To Win The Business Battle, which is alliterative.
What does this quotation do for us? It is short, succinct, easy to remember. It makes us feel confident, superior, successful. The detective has been faced with a problem and he has solved it, for himself and others. He has established his credentials.
By quoting another expert, we appeal to a higher authority, somebody more famous. We can quote an unknown person, somebody we value, such as our mother, somebody older and wiser, our grandmother who taught us a memorable lesson when we were a child.
What have other famous people said about quotations?
I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.
George Bernard Shaw.
Angela Lansbury
Author of
Quick Quotations (Lulu.com)
Who Said What When? (Lulu.com)
Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character but based on a real person. Why do we quote him? What does quotation do for us?
'Elementary, dear Watson,' we would have said, laughing, if we had seen the statue. Eric was the author of a best-selling practical book, How To Win The Business Battle, which is alliterative.
What does this quotation do for us? It is short, succinct, easy to remember. It makes us feel confident, superior, successful. The detective has been faced with a problem and he has solved it, for himself and others. He has established his credentials.
By quoting another expert, we appeal to a higher authority, somebody more famous. We can quote an unknown person, somebody we value, such as our mother, somebody older and wiser, our grandmother who taught us a memorable lesson when we were a child.
What have other famous people said about quotations?
I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.
George Bernard Shaw.
Angela Lansbury
Author of
Quick Quotations (Lulu.com)
Who Said What When? (Lulu.com)
Labels: author, Baker Street, Bernard Shaw, credentials, Eric Webster, How to Win The Business Battle, quotations, Sherlock Holmes statue, speeches, Watson
