Many have pondered and many have asked: where do all the quotes come from?

You see them all over the place.  From Random Thoughts to photos to comments to posts to whatever other form as may be appropiate, I utilize quotations with seeming disregard.  Why?  And where do they come from?

Simply put, the vast majority of them come from reading.  I love to read.  It expands my vocabulary, increases my understanding of the world, develops my mental horizons and capacity, and aids in the formation of mature, diverse points of view.  It also indirectly provides fodder and fuel for future posts via quotations.

I remember quotes and snippets and quips from whatever I read.  Call it a photographic memory; call it being overly retentive.  No matter what you call it, I retain a significant amount of information from what I have seen and heard and felt and otherwise experienced.  I draw constantly on this materialistic plethora.  It serves to provide ammunition for contrary thought, that which we would otherwise dispense with as meaningless gibberish.  It is, for lack of a better term, silage for debate.

For now, allow me respite enough to proffer the following:

The point of quotations is that one can use another's words to be insulting.

— Amanda Cross

And:

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.

— Marlene Dietrich

By the way — read this, damn it! — do not vex me with corrections on usage of the word "whence" in the title.  The construction "from whence" has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century.  I would likewise scoff at you for using it.  "Whence" incorporates by definition the sense of "from."  Reputable writers be damned, even from the 14th century and forward, for clumsy, obtuse, witless use of an inappropriate phrase: "from whence."  Humans can be so ludicrous.

While you may already comprehend my displeasure with Christianity and religion in general, let me point out the King James Bible errs in its laughable use of this incorrect language.  Translated sloppily and inaccurately from the original Semitic langauge (Aramaic being most likely), the bible erroneously utilizes the "from" construction despite it being incorrect.

"Whence" is sufficient, thank you.  No "from" necessary.