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What our customer's say!

"Wish It Contained More Entries", I've used a hard-copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations for years as a reference. I was disappointed that this current edition for the Kindle does not have all the content of the book.

Abraham Lincoln, for example, is missing. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill... missing. Grover Cleveland, Christopher Columbus, Confucius; all missing. I would be a much happier Customer if this were a full-reference version.


"A must for writers and speakers", If you rely on the written or spoken word to sway the opinion of others, this is a must have for your reference resources.

While there are a number of online resources, they do not compare to having a hard copy on your desk. There are a number of problems with many of the online quote sources. The attribution is often questionable. Bartlett's is the authority on attribution.

The collection is in chronological order, alphabetical by author. There is an extensive index by subject matter. You should be able to find just the quote you are searching for in a matter of minutes.

I have found this to be an invaluabe resource.

I have also discovered many authors and philisophers that I wanted to learn more about from simply browsing through this collection.

There is nothing like the appropriate quotationn to give credibility to your speaking or writing. If you are serious about your work, you really should add this to your collection of resources.

"The definitive source for quotations", Bartlett's is where I go if I want to see exactly who said what, when, and in precisely what context. John Bartlett started his work about 150 years ago with approximately 250 people, and now in its current version, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations has more than 25,000 quotes from 2,500 people. The chronological layout also makes this very appealing and accessible, and moreso a book one can easily sit down with on a rainy day to peruse.

One thing I take issue with is the fact that several quotes from notable people I have picked up from reading elsewhere (perhaps even earlier versions of Bartlett's!) are not listed in the current book, among them:

"We were given two ears and one mouth that we may hear the more and speak the less." -Zeno

"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle

"I have nothing, yet have everything; and although I possess nothing, still of nothing am I in want." - Menander

The quotes above are not listed, while others are, such as "show me the money" from the movie Jerry Maguire in 1996! Somehow I think the former quotes will hold the test of time while that inane quote from the Hollywood movie will probably not even make it into the Bartlett's version two iterations down the line.

In my opinion, the only thing lacking is a proper gravitas; not enough emphasis is given to timeless figures such as Aristotle or Zeno in favor of contemporary quotes which in truth, possess very little meaning or truth, or in some cases, none at all.

That being given as a proviso, this is still the de facto source for quotations.

**** 1/2 Stars.

"Priceless for students, great for researchers and excellent for literature lovers.", This review is for the book, not the CD ROM or any other Bartlett's related electronic media.
If you consider yourself well read, it will not take you long to find out where "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" fails and be somewhat disappointed. If you don't read a lot, and need the book for school or reference, it will probably be adequate.
Certainly no book of quotations can be exhaustive and Bartlett's never claims to be, their are; however, some vital literary idioms that are noticeably missing.
Having covered the book's shortcomings, I cannot point out that as a resource and reference this book can be not only helpful, but indispensable for college students.
"Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" is like the King of the Cliff's Notes research, and just like Cliff's Notes, His Majesty should never be used to replace the material it summarizes. A basic understanding of the context of the book's quotations is far more valuable then the quotes themselves.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ! OR AT LEAST REFERENCE REGULARLY.


"BARTLETTS QUOTES", A really cool book that no one thinks of reading. Most of the phrase used in today's world can be located here, and their origins reviewed.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Invaluable, authoritative, probably the "best"", Comparing this, the 17th edition of the best known and arguably the most authoritative collection of quotations ("familiar," memorable, or just plain quotable--you choose the terminology), to its predecessor the 16th edition, the question arises, should you upgrade? I own both books and have examined them in some detail. I have used the 16th for many years.

The 17th is set in a new typeface which is both slightly narrower and less bold than that of the 16th. The result is a cleaner look to the pages and more white space. The difference in the number of pages--1431 for the new, 1405 for the old--is slight, and a little misleading. In fact the new edition has more entries--"around one hundred" authors are quoted for the first time, and some authors have additional entries. But the text in the 17th actually takes up less room. Its Index, for example, although it has more entries, has only 564 pages to 608 for the 16th. This is accomplished mainly because the narrower type is also shorter, allowing more entries per column.

The question then is, is the smaller type harder to read? Surprisingly, I would say no. The new type is sharper, crisper and, because the pages have a cleaner appearance, is easier on the eyes. I have a strong suspicion that the publishers--whose investment in this most famous and most important reference work is considerable--tested the readability of their new type before adopting it!

Some additional space, according to editor Justin Kaplan, has been gained by the elimination of "several hundred purely mechanical and nonsubstantive cross-references." For example in the 16th on page 247 is given this quotation from Fredrich von Logau: "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small." A footnote at the bottom of the column refers us to Euripides and George Herbert who wrote something similar. In the 17th that footnote is gone and we have no handy reference to the two earlier instances of von Logau's expression. I think this is a clear loss and not something simply "mechanical and nonsubstantive" as editor Justin Kaplan has it in his Preface to the Seventeenth Edition. (p. viii)

Okay, what about the new authors being quoted and the additional quotations by authors already present in the 16th addition? Do they constitute a significant upgrade?

This is a question difficult to answer partly because only time will tell if the new additions--many of them are so new--will really remain worth remembering. Bill Clinton's rather infamous "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" surely will be around for a while, but film director Cameron Crowe's "Show me the money!" from his film Jerry Maguire (1997) may not seem so memorable or familiar a generation or two down the road. (Or maybe I have that backwards!) A quick way to address the question of whether the new quotations are worthwhile is to look at the last pages of entries just before the Anonymous section. Because Bartlett's presents its quotations chronologically, from the earliest (the first quote is from the Egyptian The Song of the Harper 2650 B.C.) to the latest (Sesame Street's Kermit the Frog's "It ain't easy bein' green") most of the new entries are near the back. By the way, technically speaking, Kermit the Frog's dictum is older than Cameron Crowe's movie. But that is a quibble.

Of course there are additions that are not from new authors. French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat, who does not appear in the 16th, appears here in the 17th, noting that his "truly marvellous" proof for his famous Last Theorem, will not fit into "this margin." Fermat was rediscovered by Bartlett's no doubt because in 1994 Andrew Wiles finally proved the theorem--taking considerably more than a margin to do it, by the way.

Some other authors appearing for the first time are Mother Teresa, Richard Feynman, Margaret Atwood, Princes Diana, etc. Vladimir Nabokov, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein and W. Somerset Maugham are among about two dozen who have had their space extended. Kaplan doesn't mention it, but there are also some deletions from the previous edition. I was particularly disappointed to find that one of the central tenets of the Vedas, from the Chandogya Upanishad, "Thou art that" was eliminated.

Also eliminated (and I think this is to the good) are the Ibid's that sometimes ran all the way down the page in the 16th. Now the title of the work is repeated.

If you don't have this reference, you really should get it or the comparable Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. See my review of that very excellent book for a comparison. Suffice it to say here, if you are an American who prefers a slight emphasis on American authors to an emphasis on English authors, you'll want to get this book.

Bottom line: no serious writer (especially of literature, culture and history) should be without this invaluable and authoritative book. Next to a dictionary it is my most consulted work of reference.

"Organization and Format Lacking", Before buying this book, I was influenced by the name recognition of Bartletts and bought the book mainly for its
known reputation in the past. I was very disappointed! Half the book is an index and, even then, to see the complete quotation, you have to look up each partial quote for the complete quote. Too much work for me! I returned the book.

"Changes in new edition", It should be noted that some reviews here refer to editions PRIOR to the new 17th edition of Bartlett's. For example, Ronald Reagan's Berlin speech "...tear down this wall..." is included in this latest edition along with other updates and revisions.

I would agree with others that it is probably worthwhile to hold onto earlier editions of timepieces/repositories of additional quotes that, with the march of time, get squeezed out of current and future edtions. Every home should have at least one of these in it though.

Nice to see the positive influence of the weekly television treasure, SUNDAY MORNING with Charles Osgood. This book was entertainingly featured yesterday (12/8/02) and visiting Amazon[.com] today, I see the book's sales have jumped 28,150%!

"Don't buy this downloadable version at any price.", Amazon.com does not tell you on the description page that you cannot receive a refund for this terrible product. The interface (Adobe eBook Reader) is acceptable for a volume that will be read page-by-page. It is TOTALLY wrong for this 1,000+ page reference book. It is a nightmare to find anything in this product. Buy the hardcover or paper back but don't throw away $30 on this version. Tecnically speaking it, it's a bow-wow.

"Do not order at any cost", This ebook version is totally unusable. The interface is fine for a document that will be read page by page. It is impossible for this 1,00+ page reference book. When you download it and find it is completely unsable, you will then find that Amazon is not making refunds on ebooks. THAT FACT IS NOT SHOWN ON THIS PAGE. Save your [$$$]. If you want Bartlett's - as many of us do - buy the printed version. This virtual version [stinks]. [Of course that is a technical term.]