Adding Quotes to Your Profile

So... You want to pimp out your profile verbally? The best and easiest way to do that is with quotes. Quoting someone is a great way to express how you feel or what you want to say - except, of course, it always sounds better!

The problem is, too many people try to pass off famous (or even obscure) quotes as their own... WRONG!!! Nothing will make you look like a loser faster than ganking an awesome DOORS lyric or bit of philosophical wisdom and trying to make others think it yours.

When it comes to quoting, remember this rule: There is always someone out there who know your stolen quote intimately and you will always get caught!

Try this instead... Cite your source!!
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with using someone else's words as long as you give them proper credit! Look, we're not writing term papers here. This is the Internet and the Internet is "serious business" ;) Here are two great ways to utilize quotes:

1. Direct Quotes - Put your stolen quote in quotation marks (" ") and attribute that quote to its author.
   
   Example 1: "Out here in the perimeter there are no stars... Out here we is stoned Immaculate." - Jim Morrison
   
   Example 2: "I am but a bastion of innocence in a forest of deceit." - Lolagrrl
   This works really well for those little boxes where you are asked to sum up who you are in a sentence or two.


2. Indirect Quotes - Apply your stolen quote as a way to describe yourself but give credit where credit is due!
   Attribute it any way you want to... hell, depending on the popularity of the quote, you can even leave it vague, just make sure that you keep it honest.
   
   Example #1: I'm a down-to-earth, really sweet kinda guy. I guess you could say that I'm a "bastion of innocence in a forest of deceit." ;) (BTW - I didn't come up w/that line but I wish I did!)
   
   Example #2: There's this great writer named Lolagrrl who likes to call herself "A bastion of innocence in a forest of deceit"... Yup... that's me too.

The bottom line is that attributing someone else's words to them (directly or indirectly) doesn't make you look like an unoriginal idiot, it makes you look like a well-read person who has many interests!

It's when you don't attribute that makes you look like a idiot.

NEXT: I'll give you a list of sites where you can find some great quotes