See the 14th quotation by Benjamin Disraeli in list 1; "the wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages may be preserved by quotations". There is no better answer for the question, "what is a quotation?". Many wise men and women from different countries have penned down their experiences or thoughts in brief and elegant words, for the use of generations to come. But some quotes are not of that type and they disappear fast from the worlds of words. Now see the first quotation in list 1 by Aristotle; " it is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world". This can be by translation, transforming or by independent thinking, by thinkers at different times of history. (See also 23rd quotation in list 1 by Goethe). Aristotle could have been cautionary also, to warn the readers, not to give undue credit to the authors. In reality quotes are part of human heritage. Hence writers should freely use them irrespective of, 'who said', 'who compiled', or 'who published'.

Now, type in some key words including 'quotations' and search. How many web sites and quotations, in hundreds or in thousands! Some are centuries old, some are from 20th century, and some others are by living authors or leaders. But Aristotle is proved correct. He himself could have transformed some prehistoric ideas in his own words. Some writers who were impressed by his life, after many centuries, translated his wisdom into other languages. (Aristotle wrote perhaps in Greek?). This is enough to answer questions like, what are quotations, how are they written and how do they reappear.

Nowadays articles on many topics or subjects appear in magazines and newspapers in yearly cycles or seasonwise. During national and religious festivals, many articles are published for popular reading. These are repeated, because many persons do not remember wise words or history except in their own popular sayings or legends. Text books in schools etc. go on changing in contents and presentations. But fundamentals and basics remain the same or change very little. Fundamentals of life are also like that, (good quotes deal with fundamentals of life and they are quoted often), they do not change yearwise, or decadewise. But when these things change, there can be social upheavals.

Take the case of a simple man of rural folk(say a farmer). He lives using his own instincts and wisdom which he got from elders or folklores. Even though he is uneducated (in the urban sense) almost all wisdom available in modern literatures are known to this rustic person also, by living honestly and experiencing many things daily. This is what the 38-th quotation in list 1 humourously says!

See the 37-th quote. It says about freak or chance happenings. When many quotations reveal wisdom, laws, morals etc. which are widely accepted or practiced, this quotation says to give due consideration to conspicuous or eye-catching freak happenings.