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Aphorisms Quote Bank

Finds, adds, and tracks attributed quotes by author and theme, avoiding repeats in newsletters

Source Download skill
Repository
danielmiessler/LifeOS
Stars
19,682
Licence
MIT
Files
9 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent keeps a curated collection of aphorisms and quotes, each with its author, theme tags, and source context. When you ask for a quote, it matches candidates to your topic, avoids quotes it has already recorded as used, and checks attribution, marking uncertain authors as Unknown or Disputed. It can also add new quotes, search the collection by keyword, and research what a given thinker has said.

Great for

  • Newsletter writers who need a recurring opening or closing quote without repeats
  • Writers and speakers building a themed quote bank
  • Students collecting attributed quotes by thinker or theme

Skip it if

  • Creative writing or social media posts, which the skill explicitly excludes
  • Publishing your own words as if they were quotes from others, which the skill does not handle
  • Situations needing guaranteed-verified citations: the skill relies on the model's knowledge for attribution, and the reviewer step is manual

Try asking

  • “Suggest a quote about overcoming setbacks for this week's newsletter”
  • “Add this quote by Marcus Aurelius to my aphorism collection”
  • “Research what Seneca said about time and fear”
  • “Search my aphorisms for quotes about curiosity”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Aphorisms Quote BankInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 9 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    Aphorisms.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip Aphorisms.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip Aphorisms.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Create a PREFERENCES.md with your themes and key thinkers so recommendations fit your use case
  • Ask the agent to run the check command after adding quotes to catch duplicates and formatting errors
  • Verify any attributed quote against a primary source before publishing it

What's inside

  • Database/aphorisms.md
  • Intents/AddAphorism.md
  • Intents/FindAphorism.md
  • Intents/ResearchThinker.md
  • Intents/SearchAphorisms.md
  • Setup.md
  • SKILL.md
  • Tools/Aphorisms.help.md
  • Tools/Aphorisms.ts

Redistributed unmodified from danielmiessler/LifeOS under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.