About Hal’s Quotes & Notes: Topical Chains

skip to content

Q&N introduction:
general
index pages
topical chains
sources
accessibility
selections
language/content
accuracy
typography
graphics
page data
Hal

Index pages:
authors
titles
categories
topics
translators

Topical chains offer a different way to browse the collection, through connected quotes from different authors. They are “chains” because each quote is linked to the next one on the same topic.

The links, labeled by topic, appear on the right sides of the tables of quotes and notes. Other types of links may be found there as well; the links for topical chains appear beneath a “Topic” or “Topics” heading.

The labels on the links are significant, because some quotes are on multiple chains, and following the wrong link will switch you to a different chain.

The chains are circular: following links for one topic, you eventually return to the quote where you started. Each topical link always leads to another page and a different author. Usually – but there are exceptions – a single work is only represented once on a topical chain.

The compact topics index lists all the topics, with each entry linked to one quote on the chain. In an expanded version of the index, many of the entries are also cross-referenced to other, related topics; if so, the entry in the expanded index is included as a link on the chain, so all connections can be reached easily from any starting point.

Some cross-references include a related category index page, in which case that page has a return link.

Fair warning: not all entries take the topic seriously. Often, the best quotes on any topic poke fun at it; “fun” can be anything from gentle kidding to caustic satire.


Background graphic copyright © 2005 by Hal Keen