--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An anthology of quotations is a museum of…" description: "\"An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances.\" — Gary Saul Morson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg" --- # An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances. ![“An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances.” quote by Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg) > “An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances.” [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Quotes collect human expression, forming a curated museum of language. **In simple terms:** Quotations are a museum of spoken words. Key Takeaway Collect and reflect on diverse sayings. Themes language culture history expression Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - public speaking - education Key Concepts literary theory archiving Questions to Reflect On - What makes a quotation timeless? - How does context shape meaning? A Different Perspective Quotes can be taken out of context, losing nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthology/) [Anthology Quotations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthology-quotations-2977954/) [Museum Utterances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museum-utterances-2977953/) [Museums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museums/) [Quotation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quotation/) [Quotations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quotations/) [Quotations Museum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quotations-museum-2977952/) [Utterance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utterance/) [Utterances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utterances-539716/) ## Related quotes > [Although I don't disagree that utterances express desires and try to make complexities precise, I actually don't think at all that any of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fry/although-i-don-t-disagree-that-utterances-express-desires-and-try-to/) [Paul Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fry/) > [Words are merely utterances: noises that stand for feelings, thoughts, and experience. They are symbols. Signs. Insignias. They are not Truth. They are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/words-are-merely-utterances-noises-that-stand-for-feelings-thoughts/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Converse with a mind that is grandly simple, and literature looks like word-catching. The simplest utterances are worthiest to bewritten, yet are they so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/converse-with-a-mind-that-is-grandly-simple-and-literature-looks-like/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There are no poetic ideas; only poetic utterances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-are-no-poetic-ideas-only-poetic-utterances/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Anatole France frankly advised, "When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it." Yes, indeed, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/anatole-france-frankly-advised-when-a-thing-has-been-said-and-said/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Not everything that can be extracted appears in anthologies of quotations, in commonplace books, or on the back of Celestial Seasonings boxes. Only certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/not-everything-that-can-be-extracted-appears-in-anthologies-of/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Reframing an extract as a quotation constitutes a kind of coauthorship. With no change in wording, the cited passage becomes different. I imagine that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/reframing-an-extract-as-a-quotation-constitutes-a-kind-of/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [You apply the skills you use to produce your own book to make an anthology. Shaping. Rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-apply-the-skills-you-use-to-produce-your-own-book-to-make-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No matter what, I'm never going to get an anthology from an actual publisher, though I could always score another music anthology. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-meltzer/no-matter-what-i-m-never-going-to-get-an-anthology-from-an-actual/) [Richard Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-meltzer/) > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Way back in 1989, I got lucky with my first published story when it was selected for the Journey Prize anthology. Then I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bergen/way-back-in-1989-i-got-lucky-with-my-first-published-story-when-it/) [David Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bergen/) > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I had the idea to do an anthology about instrument-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-toop/i-had-the-idea-to-do-an-anthology-about-instrument-making/) [David Toop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-toop/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) ## More by Gary Saul Morson > [“Like a delicatessen owner who sells rancid meat and then blames his business failure on the vulgarization of customer taste, humanities professors account for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/like-a-delicatessen-owner-who-sells-rancid-meat-and-then-blames-his/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [A single gnomic line can come to resonate with centuries of subsequent wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/a-single-gnomic-line-can-come-to-resonate-with-centuries-of/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [People who rarely read long books, or even short stories, still appreciate the greatest examples of the shortest literary genres. I have long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/people-who-rarely-read-long-books-or-even-short-stories-still/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Reframing an extract as a quotation constitutes a kind of coauthorship. With no change in wording, the cited passage becomes different. I imagine that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/reframing-an-extract-as-a-quotation-constitutes-a-kind-of/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [The attribution of a speaker is in fact a part of the quotation. Some statements simply are better if a certain famous person said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/the-attribution-of-a-speaker-is-in-fact-a-part-of-the-quotation-some/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Unless created as freestanding works, quotations resemble "found" art. They are analogous, say, to a piece of driftwood identified as formally interesting enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/unless-created-as-freestanding-works-quotations-resemble-found-art/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [We sometimes think of quotations as extracts from larger texts, but some quotations originated complete unto themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/we-sometimes-think-of-quotations-as-extracts-from-larger-texts-but/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Not everything that can be extracted appears in anthologies of quotations, in commonplace books, or on the back of Celestial Seasonings boxes. Only certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/not-everything-that-can-be-extracted-appears-in-anthologies-of/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Anatole France frankly advised, "When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it." Yes, indeed, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/anatole-france-frankly-advised-when-a-thing-has-been-said-and-said/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [I wonder if "an" ever occurs before "haughty" except in a quotation, or whether you can make anything sound like a quotation by adding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/i-wonder-if-an-ever-occurs-before-haughty-except-in-a-quotation-or/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) > [Some lines are born quotations, some are made quotations, and some have "quotation" thrust upon them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/some-lines-are-born-quotations-some-are-made-quotations-and-some-have/) [Gary Saul Morson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) [Explore all 12 Gary Saul Morson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/) ## More Anthology quotes > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [I had the idea to do an anthology about instrument-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-toop/i-had-the-idea-to-do-an-anthology-about-instrument-making/) [David Toop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-toop/) > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [Way back in 1989, I got lucky with my first published story when it was selected for the Journey Prize anthology. Then I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bergen/way-back-in-1989-i-got-lucky-with-my-first-published-story-when-it/) [David Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bergen/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [No matter what, I'm never going to get an anthology from an actual publisher, though I could always score another music anthology. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-meltzer/no-matter-what-i-m-never-going-to-get-an-anthology-from-an-actual/) [Richard Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-meltzer/) > [You apply the skills you use to produce your own book to make an anthology. Shaping. Rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-apply-the-skills-you-use-to-produce-your-own-book-to-make-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [After my grandfather died I went down to the basement of my family house where my family kept books, anthologies and things and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/after-my-grandfather-died-i-went-down-to-the-basement-of-my-family/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [When I stand in a library where is all the recorded wit of the world, but none of the recording, a mere accumulated, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-i-stand-in-a-library-where-is-all-the-recorded-wit-of-the-world/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I think as long as the standard of quality, the story-telling, film-making, acting etc. etc. remains consistent, then you've got a good change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-marshall/i-think-as-long-as-the-standard-of-quality-the-story-telling-film/) [Neil Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-marshall/) > [ I've never heard of that anthology \[Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow\], but you can be sure I'll buy it now. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-ray-pollock/i-ve-never-heard-of-that-anthology-vance-randolph-pissing-in-the-snow/) [Donald Ray Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-ray-pollock/) > [The original Greek meaning of the word anthology is a collection or gathering of flowers in bloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-garmey/the-original-greek-meaning-of-the-word-anthology-is-a-collection-or/) [Jane Garmey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-garmey/) > [The Psalms, the anthology of the hymns of Israel, are still used by Christians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/the-psalms-the-anthology-of-the-hymns-of-israel-are-still-used-by/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) [Browse all 129 Anthology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gary Saul Morson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-of-utterances/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anthology" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-of-utterances/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/gary-saul-morson-36779_anthology_an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-o_2734228.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An anthology of quotations is a museum of utterances.” — Gary Saul Morson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gary Saul Morson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-saul-morson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An anthology of quotations is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-of-utterances/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-saul-morson/an-anthology-of-quotations-is-a-museum-of-utterances/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```