Nov 27 2009
The Best Places To Find Quotations On The Web
I periodically look for quotations — for articles, posters, etc. I get pretty frustrated by most of the online quotation sites because they often don’t provide the source for the quotes, nor any information about the person who supposedly said the quote.
I’ve searched and searched, and I still I’ve only found four sites that consistently provide sources for quotes and have a decent searchable database. I do have to say, though, that one way I’ve recently discovered to get around this problem is by pasting the quote in the query box at Google Book Search. Often, that will bring me to the primary source.
This is an extremely short “The Best…” list.
My choices for The Best Places To Find Quotations On The Web are:
Quote Snack (This is a blog. It doesn’t seem to have a complete “search” system in place, but it does have a “tag cloud” you can use).
Another site that deserves an “honorable mention” is called Quotes.net. It doesn’t provide the sources for their quotes, but it does have two other neat capabilities that could be helpful to English Language Learners — it provides audio support for the text, so that users can hear the words; and it provides the option of translating the quotes into many different languages.
iWise is another site that doesn’t meet my criteria, but the fact it offers audio support for the text is a real plus.
Finally, even though the listed sites don’t meet my criteria, you might want to look at the exhaustive list of quote resources that Presentation Zen has at Where to get quotations for presentations? (the post is about three years old, though, so there might be a fair amount of dead links).
Tara Benwell lets me know that The English Club has a quotes section designed for English Language Learners. It’s in its beginning stages now, but will be expanding.
Any additional suggestions are welcome!
3 responses so far
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
I like Positive Press for quotes. You can also sign up to receive a positive quote of the day.
http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/quote-of-the-day.html
[Reply]
Hi Larry,
Great post, Larry! I love quotes! I collect them on the inside covers of my notebooks. Have been doing this for about ten years now and I love hunting through old journals to find the perfect quote from my personal library.
EnglishClub.com has recently added a quotes section in the English Language Reference section of the site. The quote selection in EC’s reference section is small at the moment but will grow in time. Josef Essberger is taking great care to organize the quotes by topic. He includes info related to the source and writer as well as helpful vocabulary for learners. For example: http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Quotes/Last_Words/Yes_I_d_like_a_bulletproof_vest._2723.htm
Though it is still in its infant stage I am excited about the future of this section! Eventually it will be offered as “Quote of the Day” like the other popular choices such as “Idiom of the Day”.
Cheers,
Tara
[Reply]
Thank you for including my site, QuoteSnack, in your list. I personally track down the original published source of every quote. Seeing where it appeared in a book of quotes is not enough. If I find it quoted by another author, I have to also find confirmation of that author’s source – footnotes are a treasure. I love the way the language of a phrase can jump the skids and work when applied to personal situations, but I feel cheated when I can’t also see what was going on in the author’s next sentence.
There is so much I want to do with that site!
[Reply]