8.08 Quotations within quotations

Material that was already a quotation in the source document or speech should be enclosed in single quotation marks when run into text and in double quotation marks within block quotations. The same rules of punctuation apply (see 8.03 Punctuation and grammar in run-in quotations):

• Run-in

  In his article "The Grand Illusion," Robert Fulford states: "Television news responds to one of our most profound needs: it reduces the chaos of the day to something approaching order. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz has explained that human beings are ‘symbolizing, conceptualizing, meaning-seeking’ animals who wish to ‘make sense out of their experience, to give it form and order.’"

• Block

  In his article "The Grand Illusion," Robert Fulford writes as follows:

  Television news responds to one of our most profound needs: it reduces the chaos of the day to something approaching order. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz has explained that human beings are "symbolizing, conceptualizing, meaning-seeking" animals who wish to "make sense out of their experience, to give it form and order."

In the rare event that a further quotation within a quotation occurs, enclose it in double quotation marks:

• He answered, "I was told, ‘Keep the document marked "Secret" in a safe place.’"

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