It seems that way to me sometimes. Your thoughts?
2007-01-26 07:21:45 · 40 answers · asked by Diesel Weasel 7 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
It makes me laugh that so many US tv shows will fall back on this maxim to make a character appear intelligent.
We play reference bingo now - Smallville is terrible for it.
The amount of times your hear how "Machiavellian" someone is and you know they've never read The Prince. Or quotes from Hamlet, Macbeth & Julius Caesar are the worst! Its becoming too much of a cliche.
2007-01-26 07:28:36 · answer #1 · answered by LondonGRL 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
When I quote someone famous, usually it is relevant to the discussion at hand and in some way illuminates the topic in a more worldly form.
When someone else quotes somebody famous, I take it for what it is, a person decided that a quote in their mind matches something that they were just thinking about.
So to me, people do not seem smarter if they quote someone famous. Nor does someone who can tie his own shoes seem more intelligent because of this action.
Personal intelligence is relative, in that it differs dependent on the eye of the beholder.
2007-01-26 07:30:42 · answer #2 · answered by barter256 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Technically no. It actually makes you seem as smart as you are. You cannot fake knowledge. You know something, memorized something, know the source of a quote that comes up in conversation. That shows you might have read a book or stayed awake in class or retained something beyond the day of the test. It is an indicator of how smart you ARE. Not more and not less.
If you do the quote in Latin, then you're just showing off.
2007-01-26 15:42:26 · answer #3 · answered by Crabby Patty 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When someone else has said or written something that perfectly captures a thought I want to express, I see no reason not to quote those words and attribute them properly.
In fact, I feel as though I am honoring that person.
A few quotations about quotations:
"Quotations, when engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more." --- Winston Churchill
"A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader." --- Henry Fowler
"I love (quotations) because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizedly wiser than oneself." --- Marlene Dietrich
"In a world that is well on its way to becoming one vast quarry, the collector becomes someone engaged in a pious work of salvage. The course of modern history having already sapped the traditions and shattered the living wholes in which precious objects once found their place, the collector may now in good conscience go about excavating the choicer, more emblematic fragments." --- Susan Sontag
2007-01-26 12:06:49 · answer #4 · answered by x 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of my answers for every question are from quotable sources! I may "seem" smart, but I'm certainly not! Its easier to search for quotes that are specific to the questioners desires than think out the answer- in many cases...
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself.” -Marlene Dietrich
Have we been down this road before?
2007-01-26 12:32:01 · answer #5 · answered by ••Mott•• 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the quote. Quoting Shakespeare or Tolkien gives the impression of intelligence. However, quoting someone like, say, Clinton, leaves more of a black mark in that field.
2007-01-26 07:29:59 · answer #6 · answered by Emily 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, not at all. Actually it depends on the circumstance and the quote that is being used. Otherwise, if it's some random quote to seem smart, all that person is really accomplishing is "acting smart", and trying to hard. I hate that. Huge pet peeve. To quote Dan Akroyd....just effen around.
2007-01-26 07:41:48 · answer #7 · answered by gloriaalcazar@sbcglobal.net 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it's a positive quote, in a way you're paying homage to the person that originally said it and simply passing the word along with good intentions.
2007-01-26 08:45:16 · answer #8 · answered by Compass Rose 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on what situation you are quoting them in. If it is about a subject you are in a discussion about and it promotes your idea then yes it does. But to stand on the street corner and quote Cesar to passers by means nothing.
2007-01-26 07:29:37 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are able to learn from the quotes you read, then yes, you are better off after knowing their quotes.
2007-01-26 07:30:18 · answer #10 · answered by Semi-charmed 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋