Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (7th edition)

What exactly should constitute a quotation? If some profound truth is stated or if something, even straightforward or obvious, is expressed in a particularly witty or beautiful way, then it obviously becomes quotable no matter what its source. Similarly, the sayings or writings of the famous, especially when well expressed, must also be obviously quotable. But what about rather banal statements or catch phrases by prominent people? There are a number of quotations in this book from modern, mainly but by no means exclusively British, politicians which are correctly recorded here because people remember them, but which have little to...