You Can Look It Up

Opinion Journal ^ | October 18, 2002 | Roger Kimball

[Paul Atreides]

Or can you? Bartlett's arrives in a new edition. Who's in, who's out and why.

In "My Early Life," Winston Churchill had praise for Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. "An admirable work," he declared. "The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts." Churchill believed that browsing through Bartlett's made one "anxious to read the authors and look for more."

[Paul Atreides]

I was going to buy a copy of Bartlett's. Now, I think I'll pass. Does anyone know a good alternative to Bartlett's?

[hedgetrimmer]

Buy a used version, with out the updates.

[Paul Atreides]

Yeah, but how far back does this Kaplan creep go? Plus, I might want some up to date quotes, such as from President Bush.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Does anyone know a good alternative to Bartlett's?

Google.com

[ErnBatavia]

I'd liase with Barbra Streisand's people....they seem to have this sort of thing nailed.

[Congressman Billybob]

www.bartleby.com runs rings around Barlett's. You'll find all of major English and American literature there -- all of it text-searchable. Enjoy, and bookmark.

Congressman Billybob

This column is based on the fine work by FReepers in a thread on FR. Click for "Ballistics and Bullsh*t"

Click for "Til Death Do Us Part."

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

[IronJack]

Does anyone know a good alternative to Bartlett's?

It's obvious from your name that you read. I never read without a pencil, and I underline the moving passages I encounter. Then, when I finish the book, I go back through and copy them into my own version of "Famous Quotations." I've got notebooks full of powerful material, and I add to them every time I read anything worthwhile. In fact, it is largely that criterion that determines the value of the book to me.

[Prodigal Son]

Hmmm. Well, if you can't find a good alternative- perhaps that would be a good project for a book. Perhaps other Freepers would like to supply some of their favorites and you'd be mostly on the way to having a publishable tome right there. That's the great thing about a "Quotes..." book- someone else has done all the really hard work already.

You'd just need to get a "forward" written by someone famous and you'd be well on your way.

[Jonathon Spectre]

I got Dinesh D'Souza's book on Ronald Reagan for Christmas last year and it included this shameful and disgusting information about Reagan being deliberately left out of Bartlett's because he was such a fine President who refused to kowtow to communist killers. I've made that anecdote a staple in my classes, an example of liberal bias in a "non-fiction" volume.

You despise Ronald Reagan, Kaplan? Then I despise you.

[kiwikit]

Based on this, it's no surprise that younger people are pro-environment, liberal, and hate anything Republican.
It's unfortunate that the Libs own the biggest publishers,
determine what's in the biggest newspapers, and all network news shows, and run Hollywood! On top of all that, the
kids aren't taught how to think, so they just accept all the garbage fed to them in school. It's only going to get worse as the years go by...

[boris]

"I was going to buy a copy of Bartlett's. Now, I think I'll pass. Does anyone know a good alternative to Bartlett's?"

A friend gave me the 1913 edition of Bartlett's. It is infinitely superior to the "new" edition.

Not only did they give Reagan short shrift, they dumped Lord Dunsany to make room for Madonna and The Beatles; they removed bits of Longfellow to ensure that there was space for Jello Biafra.

If divine retribution were still being dispensed, the modern 'editors' of Bartlett's would be high on the list for a dose.

--Boris