Proper punctuation for the following sentence:

Question

The adage, "It is easier to build a healthy child than repair a hurting adult," is true.Is the punctuation correct???

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

I would omit the commas.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

The adage, "It is easier to build a healthy child than repair a hurting adult," is true.

Is the punctuation correct???

I would omit them, too. However, I wouldn't say it's wrong to include them, in which case I'd place the second one thus.

The adage, "It is easier to build a healthy child than repair a hurting adult", is true.

For a short quotation, I'd omit them. For a very long one, I'd include them, for the sake of improved readability and because I'd naturally pause in those places when reading aloud.

Best wishes, Clive

BarbaraPA · Answer

Regarading the ", or ," issue, Americans put the comma and the period inside the quotation marks. I know, it doesn't always make sense, but we do.

By the way, as an alternative to the quotation format, you could do this following.

The adage is true: It is easier to build a healthy child than repair a hurting adult.

(And to those who may be watching in our audience and wondering about this point, yes you can include a "to" before "repair," but it is not necessary.)

Proper punctuation for the following sentence:

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