Damaging quotation

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A damaging quotation is a short utterance by a public figure used by opponents as a

There are various common categories of quotations: malapropisms or grammatical errors, exaggerations about past achievements, lack of conviction, consorting with the enemy, moral turpitude, indifference towards victims of crime, racist or discriminatory, etc.

In the case of malapropisms, it is a rhetorical fallacy (called argument ad hominem) to conclude that the entire argument of whoever made the utterance is incorrect. Yet it has become common in partisan argument in the United States. For instance: former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN (March 9, 1999) stated, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." This has frequently been distorted by opponents to say that Gore claimed, "I invented the Internet." Partisans have so often used this distorted quotation to discredit him that Internet pioneer Vint Cerf (and others who participated in actually inventing the Internet) have made a point of noting Gore's support and the error of the discreditors.^[1]

With the availability of inexpensive

• The Bush Dyslexicon by Mark Crispin Miller (combining dyslexic and lexicon)
• Prince Albert: The Life and Lies of Al Gore by David N. Bossie
• George W. Bushisms: The Slate Book of The Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President
• "Contextomy: The Art of Quoting Out of Context" by Matthew S. McGlone, Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 27, No. 4, 511-522 (2005)
  doi:10.1177/0163443705053974

• A partisan list of "stupid quote and lies" by Al Gore
• "The Complete Bushisms", updated frequently, by Jacob Weisberg