Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 September 24

= September 24 =

How to reference a quoatation
I found a quote ("Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson) from a quote website called quotemelon. I like this quote and I want to post this quote and maybe some other quotes on my blog. So now I am wondering how to reference it. Should I reference it to the website I found it from or quotes do not need referencing? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joojebaz (talk • contribs) 16:29, 24 September 2018 (UTC)


 * If its just for your blog, then referencing where you found it is fine. Note however, that many quote sites are notoriously lax as far as verification is concerned, and are often wrong (either misquoted or misattributed). If you reference the source, and its wrong -- then its the source's fault and not yours. Of course it would be best practice to quote Emerson using the original source; however, according to "expert" Ralph Keyes (probably this Ralph Keyes) in the The Quote Verifier : "No source of this quotation has ever been found in his works."  But, Muriel Strode wrote a poem published in August 1903 titled "Wind-Wafted Wild Flowers" that includes:
 * I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.
 * Source: —2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 22:02, 24 September 2018 (UTC)