"To the outside world, Wikipedia seems to appear through magical chaos, but we know better: it's through the efforts of thoughtful people getting organized, rolling up their sleeves, and getting something done."
"When I am asked to look into cases of "admin abuse" and I choose to do so, I generally find myself astounded at how nice we are to complete maniacs, and for how long."
"re WP:BLP: Seriously, anyone who puts protecting new editors and retaining terrible content above upholding ethical and legal commitments to integrity, accuracy, and protection of a person's reputation is quite simply a massive idiot"
Most of my work has been to maintain or improve articles chosen randomly across the spectrum. I have done a lot of copyediting and vandal fighting. I participate in several projects and discussion forums. I occasionally create an article when I see an opportunity, or make a major contribution to an underdeveloped article. I try to provide comprehensive references to any articles where I have provided most of the content. I am fortunate to live close to an outstanding research library. These are my "Barnstars"
I have some knowledge of French, and some German, . I began learning Russian in 1992, but have forgotten most of it.
Learning Latin and Classical Greek , helped me to understand etymology and the history and structure of European languages.
Studying these languages improved my understanding of English Grammar, the peculiarities of English, and the difficulty of really mastering one language, let alone several.
The "perfect" Wikipedia article is built on solid research (remember to cite your sources). Contrary to popular belief, not all information is available for free on the Internet. Some research is only published in scientific journals and books (ask your library for remote lending services); some material is available only in commercial, password-protected electronic databases. If you have access to useful research material, please add the relevant information to Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange, a central portal to find Wikipedians with access to such resources. Remember we can only use facts from sources such as these, not a particular copyrighted expression thereof.
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and some German, 
. I began learning Russian 
in 1992, but have forgotten most of it.
and Classical Greek 
, helped me to understand etymology and the history and structure of European languages.
