Many quotation dictionaries in English mention few Spanish writers or thinkers and usually quote Gracián, Cervantes, and, perhaps, Ortega y Gasset. Spanish quotation dictionaries tend to offer the usual fare of Plato, Bernard Shaw, Confucius, and Tolstoi, in poor translations from English. Sources are never mentioned. I decided in 2006 to put together a dictionary of contemporary quotations gathered from the writings of Spanish-speaking writers from 1900 to 2008. Ediciones del Serbal published the 465-page volume as Diccionario panhispánico de citas . It was prologued by Enrique Vila-Matas , El lujo de la citas . Under headings like abogados , democracia , esperanza , globalización , felicidad , Dios , pobreza ... you can find quotations from writers, journalists, and thinkers from the Spanish-speaking world, adding sources, places, and dates. For over a year I would borrow three books daily from the José Luis Sampedro Library in Madrid and spend the day reading and extract...
