There’s nothing more flattering, or dangerous, for writers than having their words quoted in an approving manner. It’s the starkest evidence that out of all the combinations of letters and words in existence, they’ve arranged a few that offer readers clarity, truth or illumination.

A good quote is like a spark hitting dry tinder. As flames follow the spark, a quote fuels inspiration, curiosity or a reader’s understanding of the world.

Quotes should be collected like pennies. They should be stashed here and there and discovered again at random intervals like the small fortunes they are. Even then, there will be some that aren’t so much saved as they are seared into the mind. You can recall these in an instant.

The only care to take with any quote is proper attribution. While it’s flattering to be quoted, it’s quite another to receive credit for someone else’s words. Especially if they’re terrible.

Any collection of quotes is a good one, though good collectors are always on the hunt for more. Following are some of my favorite quotes but don’t mistake that for an endorsement. My fondness for writers and humorists is the product of my own idiosyncrasies.

“You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.” — Sign at Jiffy Burger in Smith Center

“One boy's a boy; two boys be half a boy, and three boys be no boy at all, ran the old country saying.” — Flora Thompson; often quoted by my grandmother when us boys at the ranch got distracted by shiny objects.

“The cure to boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” — Dorothy Parker

“Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.” — John Scalzi

“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.” — Anthony Bourdain; re Jiffy Burger

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain — and most fools do.” ­— Dale Carnegie

“Ignorance is no defense.” and “Nothing good happens after 10 p.m.” ­— my dad, who occasionally used both in the same paragraph.

“Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” — Stephen King

“You know, farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." — Dwight Eisenhower

“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” — Mark Twain

“Anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anybody driving faster than you is a maniac.” — George Carlin

“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” — Homer Simpson

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." — Hunter S. Thompson

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams

“He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.” — Benjamin Franklin