on quotes

You speak in the words of another. You make your choices, select their sentences and choose to borrow foreign intelligence. The selection is neither rational nor arbitrary; it is emphatic, it is challenging, it can be a disguise. And it wants to reveal something: a mood, a tone, an insight or a probing question.

This is why you quote. The careful citation maybe a mask. And it is convenient, if unsettling. A motto or a thought – what is truth, other than a pleasant opinion? We hold dear that which we cannot easily understand but know to be true anyway. Somehow. Literally or virtually, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. What does it matter? The choice has always been mine!

Why blog if you don’t seek expression? Why blog if not for the experience of hiding behind a virtual mask? And 100 is a perfect number. Therefore, no more quotes. They have said it all. On my behalf.