Herman P. Wilson taught one of my favorite college classes, Structural English Grammar. Every week, we wrote a one-page observation paper about something we observed in language usage. Herman’s constant reminder, “You could get an observation paper out that” helped me learn to pay attention at a deeper level - to see things more clearly, to hear things more distinctly, and to pause and reflect more often.

The title of this daily quote site is a tribute to Herman’s teaching methods. I started collecting these quotes after my good friend Michael Schechter challenged me to start a Tumblr blog. I highly recommend you follow Michael’s daily quote blog, Smarter Than I Am.

Forcing myself to produce a daily quote keeps me in constant practice for observing the world around me. The objective isn’t to repurpose classic statements from quote dictionaries, but rather to share current thoughts, insights, and interesting uses of language. If I can’t find a new one each day, I’m not digesting enough new information. I hope you enjoy what I observe, and remember, “You could get an observation paper out of that.”