21 Killer GRE Essay Quotes You Should Be Using Right Now By Jitta Raghavender Rao

[A] quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself,
always a laborious business. A.A. Milne

If you want to borrow an idea from the author but dont put the idea in their exact words, then its
called paraphrasing. (but remember that you still have to cite the original author even when you
are paraphrasing) For example, Ronald Reagan said, Trust, but verify. You can alter the
quotation on your own according to the passage, by saying: To paraphrase Ronald Reagans
famous quote, It is easier to trust when you can verify. By doing this, you are not only citing the
original author, but also gaining extra points for using your own version of the quote.

How many quotes should I use?. As a rule of thumb, refrain from using more than 2 quotes in
any essay. (One in the introductory paragraph and the other if necessary in the conclusion) How
do I introduce the quote in my own words? The last thing you would want is get your score
cancelled on account of plagiarism. Its highly recommended that you cite the author of the
quotation. If you dont cite, you may give the impression that you claim to be the original author
and that could result in plagiarism. You should place the quote in double quotation marks. Here
is an example usage citing the author:

Thomas Jefferson once said The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any
government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.

Categorization of GRE Essay Topics

Most of the topics that show up on the GRE essay section can be broadly grouped into five
categories.

Education

Arts

Government/Politics

Philosophy

Sciences and

Technology

So, next time when you practice writing an essay response, make sure you write at least one
essay from each of these categories. And memorize a few quotes related to each one of these
topics, as they will be handy. List of most useful essay quotes Ive compiled a list of easy-to-
digest quotes that should help you write the perfect essay. Bookmark this page NOW for future
reference. The following quotes from great thinkers have been selected based on their relevance
to common GRE essay topics and for their ease of usage.

The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance Socrates A

people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both Dwight D. Eisenhower

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is Yogi
Berra

GENIUS/PERFECTION

1. A little inaccuracy can sometimes save a ton of explanation H.H Munro

2. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a
touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction E. F.
Schumacher
3. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth
doing Theodore Roosevelt
4.

A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually
Abba Eban

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good Mohandas Gandhi

GOVERNMENT

1. Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it

may Daniel Webster
2. Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a
way around the laws Plato
3. It is dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong Voltaire
4. The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect
its free expression should be our first object Thomas Jefferson
5. No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation Woodrow Wilson (28th U.S
President)
6.
7. The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work Emile Zola

EDUCATION

The world is full of educated derelicts Calvin Coolidge

PHILOSOPHY/COURAGE

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a change to get its pants on Winston
Churchill

Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog Mark Twain

Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your hearts desire, the other is to get it
Socrates

MEN/WOMEN

If women didnt exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning Aristotle Onasis

Men are not disturbed by things, but the view they take of things Epictetus

As a rule, men worry more about what they cant see than about what they can Julius Caesar

Now, these are a handful of quotes. The goal is to memorize 5 or 6 of your favorite quotes so
youll be able to contextually fit one into the essay on the test day. While practicing, you may
look at the list of quotes found above however, if you can remember a specific quote apposite to
your essay topic, try to use it one quote for every essay. For those avid writers, who believe
the number of quotes above are too low, we have the right tool for you. Ellipsoid created a
random quote generator tool that draws 5 famous quotes from Goodreads every time you reload
the page. The good news is these 5 quotes are always theme based so you know where to use
them. Conclusion Writing essays isnt all about the substance. Its the basics that many of us
forget. If you are going to put in the time to practice writing essays, might as well maximize the
score you could get by deploying a quote in your essays. So, whats your favorite quote?
VIRTUE:

1: Woman's virtue is man's greatest invention.

Cornelia Otis Skinner

3: When even one virtue becomes our nature, the mind becomes clean and
tranquil. Then there is no need to practice meditation; we will automatically be
meditating always. (151)
Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras

5: Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the
testing point.
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

TAX:
2: Making money is one thing, paying tax is another.
Habeeb Akande

3: The art of taxation consists of plucking the goose so as to obtain the most
feathers with the least hissing.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert

1: There are only two things worse then an empty canvas: death and taxes.
Ragnar Trnquist

Common Theme: truth

TRUTH

1: If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort
you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to
begin, and in the end, despair.
C.S. Lewis

2: Truth is on the side of the oppressed.

Malcolm X

4: I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to

succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.
Abraham Lincoln

5: Truth is not exciting enough to those who depend on the characters and lives
of their neighbors for all their amusement
George Bancroft

GOSSIP

1: It's none of your concern what others say or think about you. Your happiness
is your own responsibility.
Richelle E. Goodrich

3: The key to good eavesdropping is not getting caught.

Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

5: Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.

Marie Curie

FREEDOM
2: They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin

3: Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve,
either one.
Benjamin Franklin

4: You can't cage an eagle for long without destroying it.

Patricia Briggs, Dragon Blood

5: Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is

always in vain.
John F. Kennedy

http://www.ellipsoid.org/gmi/random-quote-generator