I think I know why I enjoy critiquing the "Sunday Quote" at Apologetics315: I love quotes. One might say I have an obsession with them. Quotes are like snapshots, and just as a photo captures an interesting, moving, or even silly moment in time that both captures and conveys the essence of its larger context and is best understood in relation to its context, so a good quote captures the heart of the body of work from which it is extracted, and is best understood when examined in light of its larger literary context.
Quotes are special. They carry the weight of respect that comes with the name of the author. When I see a quote that ends with "- Carl Sagan" or "- Neil deGrasse Tyson" or some other intellectual whom I admire greatly, I take notice. Here, quote lovers run the risk of committing the Argumentum ad Verecundiam fallacy. But quotes give us the sense that the great minds of history are sitting with us, adding their thoughts and concerns to the great conversation, adding their voices to ours: the privileged few who are able to ponder the mysteries of philosophy, science and humanity.
That said, I get upset when I see bad quotes. When I see nonsense or a poorly reasoned argument masquerading as a gem of wisdom, I get riled up and want to say something. Likewise, when I see a great quote, I feel equally moved to share it and talk about it.
I suppose if I could have one wish, it might just be that, long after I'm gone, a few hundred years from now, something I have said or written may be crystalized into one of the great quotes of history. I can see it now...
"Obviate your autodidactic colleagues' cogitative predilections from transubstantiating into xenophobia by rectifying etymological sesquipedalian excess to achieve perspicacity and linguistic efficaciousness. In short, keep it simple!"
- Bud Uzoras
Yeah... It probably won't be that quote. And if I did have one wish, I'd wish for millions of dollars. Duh.
[Yes, this blog entry means I'm working on yet another critique of a "Sunday Quote" over at Apologetics315. I honestly had no idea I would write this much about quotes.]
Dead-Logic.com
