commonplace book

n.
A personal journal in which quotable passages, literary excerpts, and comments are written.

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commonplace book, not a dull or trite book, as the usual sense of ‘commonplace’ would suggest, but a writer's notebook in which interesting ideas and quotations are collected for further reflection and possible future use. In this sense, a commonplace is a remark or written passage that is worth remembering or quoting. Notable examples of commonplace books that have been published include Ben Jonson's Timber (1640) and W. H. Auden's A Certain World (1971).

For a list of words related to commonplace book, see:

• Books and Pages - commonplace book: reference book with organized collection of quotations, statements, essays, or treatises

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