Apropos

quoteSpecial Operator

    Syntax

    quote object object

    Arguments and Values

    object — an object; not evaluated.

    Description

    The quote special operator just returns object.

    The consequences are undefined if literal objects (including quoted objects) are destructively modified.

    Examples
    (setq a 1)  1 
    (quote (setq a 3))  (SETQ A 3) 
    a  1 
    'a  A 
    ''a  (QUOTE A) 
    '''a  (QUOTE (QUOTE A)) 
    (setq a 43)  43 
    (list a (cons a 3))  (43 (43 . 3)) 
    (list (quote a) (quote (cons a 3)))  (A (CONS A 3)) 
    1  1 
    '1  1 
    "foo"  "foo" 
    '"foo"  "foo" 
    (car '(a b))  A 
    '(car '(a b))  (CAR (QUOTE (A B))) 
    #(car '(a b))  #(CAR (QUOTE (A B))) 
    '#(car '(a b))  #(CAR (QUOTE (A B)))
    See Also

    Section 3.1 (Evaluation), Section 2.4.3 (Single-Quote), Section 3.2.1 (Compiler Terminology)

    Notes

    The textual notation 'object is equivalent to (quote object); see Section 3.2.1 (Compiler Terminology).

    Some objects, called self-evaluating objects, do not require quotation by quote. However, symbols and lists are used to represent parts of programs, and so would not be useable as constant data in a program without quote. Since quote suppresses the evaluation of these objects, they become data rather than program.