“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” – Winston Churchill

I attended Ricky Gervais’s performance last night at the Chicago Theatre. It was an hilarious  hour-plus of stand-up that was filmed by HBO for a special that will be broadcast in December 2010.  Soon after the show, Gervais wrote on his blog, ” Gigs going great here in US. The Chicago Theatre is officially the most beautiful theatre I’ve ever played. The crowd was up there too. My kinda town.”

Among Gervias’s material was a bit reflecting on his love and appreciation for quotations, which he cleverly and effectively used as a set up for a joke, the punchline provided by Winston Churchill’s words: “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations”

The audience, as Gervais would say, “had a laugh.”  Of course, Gervais did not include the rest of Churchill’s quote about quotes, because it would have rendered the entire bit unfunny, though it is noted here to emphasize the unique value of investigating. learning, and valuing the words that matter.  Churchill’s complete quote is, “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.  The quotations, when engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.”