Who said that?

Fred R. Shapiro, associate director for collections and special projects, is a 37-year Yale Law Library staffer with a lifelong fascination with quotations. He has been recognized as the foremost contributor to the “Oxford English Dictionary” and edited the “Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations.” It was during that experience that he noticed the shortcomings of standard quotation dictionaries such as “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations” and the “Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.” Shapiro saw an opportunity to create a new quotation dictionary that was more accurate, comprehensive, and contemporary than the standard versions, and brought to life “The Yale Book of Quotations” in 2006 and “The New Yale Book of Quotations” in 2021.

In this interview, Shapiro waxes poetic about the current golden age of quotations and his five all-time favorites.

Why did you decide to write a quotations dictionary?

In 1993, I edited the “Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations.” During that process, I saw the shortcomings of standard quotation dictionaries. I felt there was an opportunity to create a more comprehensive version using online databases covering everything — literature, science, religion, business, politics, popular culture, and more. For my book, “The Yale Book of Quotations,” I did what no other quotation dictionary does: attempt to trace every quote back to its origins.

I felt initially that this was too ambitious of a project, but Yale University Press was happy to take it on. They provided excellent support and marketing. When the first edition came out, it was incredibly successful, getting coverage in The New York Times, The Times of London, and The New Yorker.

I received letters and emails from all over the world suggesting other quotations to add or correcting some errors. I started collecting these and additional information about quotes I already had. Over 15 years, I worked on “The New Yale Book of Quotations” which was published in 2021.

Even before the 2006 edition, I had a growing reputation as a quotation guru. Yale professors and students contacted me because they wanted to use quotes and needed assistance. For many years, I had a special relationship with the late journalist William Safire, who had a weekly column in The New York Times called “On Language.”

I was his go-to guy when he wanted historical information about a quote’s origins. He mentioned me about 40 times in his column, and through that, I was able to reach a broad audience. Individuals and news outlets from all over the world started to contact me for help verifying quotations.

How did you research and gather 12,000 quotes?

English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton said, “If I’ve seen further than other men, it’s because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants.”

I took advantage of the Yale Library’s resources and looked through many previous quotation dictionaries. I did online searches to capture what people were referring to as great or famous quotes. I consulted with experts — for instance, to get all the most important quotations of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. I used several different techniques to ensure I didn’t miss anything. For example, in 2000, “The World Almanac” listed the 10 most famous quotations of the 20th century. Three of them were not listed in Bartlett’s or Oxford.

By using the Internet, I was able to communicate with individuals worldwide and do research that would have been impossible 30 years ago. Today, there are enormous riches of historical newspapers, books, and journals that you can search for information about when a quotation was first used.

My most outstanding contributor was Gregory F. Sullivan ’86 Ph.D., who created a fascinating website called quoteinvestigator.com. His website helped me a great deal with the second edition. Though we’ve corresponded quite a lot, we’ve never met in person.

What were some of the surprises you uncovered during your research?

The biggest revelation was the neglect of female originators. I discovered there is an amazing amount of notable quotations that were originated by women who got no credit. Typically, the quote was attributed to a famous man. Time and again, I found several instances of this. In the second book’s introduction, I give detailed examples. One that I became obsessed with was the Serenity Prayer:

“God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

It has usually been attributed to the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, a Yale Divinity School alumnus. I found that the actual originator was Winnifred Wygal (1884 – 1972), a U.S. social service organization official. She didn’t seem to want credit for it; she was a disciple of Niebuhr and content for him to receive the recognition. My book gives her credit and corrects a multitude of other misattributions that were uncovered. The annotations provide fascinating details and are my favorite part of the book.

For the 2021 version, you added contemporaries like Lady Gaga, Toni Morrison, and Warren Buffett. What prompts you to add individuals to the book?

I’m interested in representing contemporary quoters and quotes. In some sense, we are in a golden age of quotations — not because the quotations are necessarily good but because there is a lot of interest in them and they can influence our society.

I didn’t just include praiseworthy quotes but famous ones of all kinds — good and bad. I wanted to represent contemporary politics and popular culture and thus create a book that is more up to date than other quotation dictionaries.