Once upon a time, I started collecting quotes… I guess because I was encouraged to do it, as if collecting them and writing in a journal, were necessary skills. Of course, back then, my quotes came from, well, other people’s quote collections. I know, I know.

Anyway, my quote collection went from the notebook into the computer, and I wrote a little program to display my quotes in a little window on my workstation back in college. This collection eventually found its way to my web site. At this point, I realized that my collection wasn’t very accurate, and since they were taken from other people’s collection, my collection wasn’t very unique.

So I changed my tactics and only added quotes that came from something I actually read. Novel approach, eh?

So now, every quote I add, I also give a reference, and either a large section of the quote, or a link to my thoughts on it, or some other easter egg that can be viewed when some one clicks on the little “notepad” icon at the end of any of my quotes. I then rolled up my sleeves to delete all of those previous, banal quotes…

But I couldn’t.

These quotes, however trite and common, were part of me. The platitudes they espoused had become part of my fiber— embedded on my genes. I couldn’t delete them. I still enjoyed them. I now realize why I was told it was good to keep a collection of quotes, and I’m glad I have these little guys around. But I really need to go through them and read the context whence they were extracted.

With that introduction, allow me to present my collection of quotes … in order from most recently added to stuff originally collected in my youth.