Caroline Taggart presents some of the pithiest, wisest and most fascinating quotations we should all know, detailing where the quotation has come from and why it may be useful when searching for an elegant or informed line to illustrate a point, spice up conversation or impress one's friends. Part of the pleasure of this book is to reveal the provenance of the well-worn quote (or misquote): "my cup runneth over", "ay, there's the rub", "to err is...

"Entries are numbered and organized alphabetically by topic. For each entry, the quotation is given first, followed by author, the work in which it appeared (when appropriate), and date of origin. A second section cross-references authors to topic/quotation numbers, a third section provides a detailed keyword and phrase cross-reference to specific quotations by number"--Provided by publisher.