The Yale Book of Quotations

The Yale Book of Quotations

The Yale Book of Quotations
List Price: $55.00
Our Price: $32.99
You Save: $22.01 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.84 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Editor: Fred R. Shapiro
Foreword: Joseph Epstein
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-30
ISBN: 0300107986
Number of pages: 1104
Publisher: Yale University Press

Book Reviews of The Yale Book of Quotations

Book Review: Entertaining as well as Enlightening
Summary: 5 Stars


During the past 25-30 years, I have purchased and then made frequent use of dozens of anthologies of quotations (including revised and updated editions of Bartlett and Oxford) and consider The Yale Book of Quotations the most entertaining and enlightening of them all. As editor Fred R. Shapiro duly acknowledges, he had the substantial benefit of state-of-the-art research methods and resources that were not available to his earlier counterparts and thus was able to trace more thoroughly the origins of quotations he selected. Correct attribution is especially important to those who are, as Joseph Epstein characterizes them in the Foreword, "highly quotatious." Here several such corrections. "We are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants"(Bernard Chartres, not Isaac Newton), "War is hell!" (Napoleon, not William Tecumseh Sherman), and "Murphy's Law" (George Orwell, not Edward A. Murphy, Jr.) Shapiro also includes a number quotations not found in previous anthologies. For example, "Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger"(Friedrich Nietzsche) and "Live Fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse" (William Motley). The 12,000 quotations are arranged in alphabetical order by author, with source and date of origin cited.

I especially appreciate Shapiro's provision of 200 memorable "Film Lines" (Pages 258-269) that include some of my personal favorites. For example:

Adam Cook (Oscar Levant) in An American in Paris (1951):"[My face is not] a pretty face, I grant you, but underneath its flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character."

General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) in Dr. Strangelove (1964): "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million people killed, tops, depending on the breaks."

Captain (Strother Martin) in Cool Hand Luke (1967): "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) in Island of Lost Souls (1933): "[The natives] are restless tonight."

Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in Network (1976): "I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell `I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'"

Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in The Third Man (1949): "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy, and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

This is an anthology to be kept near at hand, perhaps on a coffee table, and will encourage and generously reward occasional browsing. Here are a few that recently caught my eye:

"There may be said to be two classes of people in the world; those who constantly divide the people of the world into two classes, and those who do not." Robert Benchley (1921)

A U.S. sailor saluting a new flag hoisted on his ship: "I name thee Old Glory." William Driver (1821)

"The most important aspect of our [Israel's] policy must be our ever-present, manifest desire to institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst.... The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people." Albert Einstein (1955)

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, and Germany doesn't want to go to war." Chris Rock (quoted in Calgary Sun in 2003)

"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

Using meticulous research to trace quotations to their original sources, Fred R. Shapiro was able to determine the validity of a claim such as Yogi Berra's, "I really didn't say everything I said." He probably didn't make all the statements attributed to him but he did make that claim, Shapiro confirms, during an interview by Sports Illustrated in 1986. Shapiro will gratefully welcome corrections of information provided in this volume as well as suggestions of new quotations for future editions. Submit them to fred.shapiro@yale.edu or www.quotationdictionary.com.

Summary of The Yale Book of Quotations

This reader-friendly volume contains more than 12,000 famous quotations, arranged alphabetically by author. It is unique in its focus on American quotations and its inclusion of items not only from literary and historical sources but also from popular culture, sports, computers, science, politics, law, and the social sciences. Anonymously authored items appear in sections devoted to folk songs, advertising slogans, television catchphrases, proverbs, and others.

For each quotation, a source and first date of use is cited. In many cases, new research for this book has uncovered an earlier date or a different author than had previously been understood. (It was Beatrice Kaufman, not Sophie Tucker, who exclaimed, I ve been poor and I ve been rich. Rich is better! William Tecumseh Sherman wasn t the originator of War is hell! It was Napoleon.) Numerous entries are enhanced with annotations to clarify meaning or context for the reader. These interesting annotations, along with extensive cross-references that identify related quotations and a large keyword index, will satisfy both the reader who seeks specific information and the curious browser who appreciates an amble through entertaining pages.

Gardening Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Gardening Books
Bulbs (The Time-Life encyclopedia of gardening) ImageBulbs (The Time-Life encyclopedia of gardening)
by James Underwood Crockett
H. Holt; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.75
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cacti: Over 1200 Species Illustrated and Identified ImageThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cacti: Over 1200 Species Illustrated and Identified
by Clive Times, Charles Glass
Chartwell Books; Published: 2001; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $322.88
Encyclopedia of  Organic Gardening ImageEncyclopedia of Organic Gardening
by J. I. Rodale, Editor J. I. Rodale
Running Press Miniature Editions; Published: 2001-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
The Houseplant Encyclopedia: Hundreds of ideas and tips from A-Z ImageThe Houseplant Encyclopedia: Hundreds of ideas and tips from A-Z
by Maggie Stuckey
Doubleday Direct Inc.; Published: 1999; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.67
The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Gardening ImageThe Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Gardening
by Stefan Buczacki
Hamlyn; Published: 2002-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $56.79
Hamlyn Encyclopedia of House Plants ImageHamlyn Encyclopedia of House Plants
by Rob Herwig
Hamlyn; Published: 1989-11-30; Hardcover; Book
The Practical Encyclopedia of Pet Birds for Home & Garden ImageThe Practical Encyclopedia of Pet Birds for Home & Garden
by Don Harper
Harmony; Published: 1987-02-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.00
Complete Herb Encyclopedia ImageComplete Herb Encyclopedia
by Nico Vermeulen
Gramercy; Published: 2003-03-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Beautiful Food Garden: Encyclopedia of Attractive Food Plants ImageThe Beautiful Food Garden: Encyclopedia of Attractive Food Plants
by Kate Rogers Gessert
Van Nostrand Reinhold; Published: 1983-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.00
Encyclopedia of Garden Plants Handbook ImageEncyclopedia of Garden Plants Handbook
by Kenneth Beckett
Little Brown & Co; Published: 2003-03-06; Hardcover; Book
Similar Books and other products
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers ImageSpeak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers
by James C. Humes
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2002-04-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.94
Price in other shops: $14.95
Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations ImageOxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations
by Ned Sherrin
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-11-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.16
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Book of Positive Quotations ImageThe Book of Positive Quotations
Fairview Press; Published: 2007-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops: $21.95
Quotes of Note: Brilliant Thoughts Arranged by Subject ImageQuotes of Note: Brilliant Thoughts Arranged by Subject
by Brogan L. Fullmer
CreateSpace; Published: 2010-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.93
The Harper Book of Quotations 3rd Edition ImageThe Harper Book of Quotations 3rd Edition
by Robert I. Fitzhenry
Collins Reference; Published: 1993-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.20
Price in other shops: $14.99
Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes ImageBartlett's Book of Anecdotes
by Clifton Fadiman, Andre Bernard
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2000-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $50.00
Quotable Quotes ImageQuotable Quotes
by Editors of Reader's Digest
Readers Digest; Published: 1997-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.66
Price in other shops: $9.95
1001 Smartest Things Ever Said Image1001 Smartest Things Ever Said
Lyons Press; Published: 2005-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.93
Price in other shops: $9.95
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations ImageOxford Dictionary of Quotations
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-11-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.18
Price in other shops: $50.00
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition) ImageBartlett's Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition)
by John Bartlett
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2002-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.99
Price in other shops: $50.00