Quote Collector

I have collected quotes for most of my life. I used to memorize them: lines from movies I watched over and over again as a child until I could quote the whole movie. Later, I would memorize lines from my favorite books that I read over and over. I still can quote a few lines from the Ian Malcolm rants in the book Jurassic Park.

Then I started writing them down. I still have some of those slips of paper in various files and folders in my filing cabinet. At one point, I started an electronic file for favorite quotes. But I’ve switched computers and harddrives since then, so much of my collection has been lost over the years.

I’ve since started storing that stuff online: a place where things don’t get lost as easily (only buried). When I find a quote in a book that I really like, I use Goodreads to keep track of it. They have a huge database with quotes from every book you can imagine, and you can also add your own if you don’t find the particular one you like.

I’ve also started collecting quotations on my own blog: Prospective Writer quotes page. When I find something memorable, whether from a movie, famous person, or friend, I record it there. I also encourage people to add their favorite quotes in the comments, but nobody has taken me up on that as of yet. I’d encourage you to visit my website and do so!

I collect quotes that are anything that I find amusing, profound, inspirational, or just plain beautiful in their construction. So many things in life are experiences we all share, and when someone can perfectly capture that in a few lines, I like collect it so I can go back and relate to it again sometime.

As a writer, I appreciate the crafting of a clever sentence, the capturing of a profound thought, and being reminded of life’s simple truths, so I am compelled to collect these gems as a dragon would hoard a treasure. And as a dragon does, I pull out these gems to admire them often.

I can only hope that throughout my writing career, maybe I can produce a few of these gems, myself, and end up in someone’s collection somewhere.