The phrase "actual quotation" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to a direct citation from a source, emphasizing that the words are taken verbatim.
Example: "In her article, she included an actual quotation from the author to support her argument."
Alternatives: "direct quote" or "verbatim citation".
This one I'll actually provide my own talking point, since the actual quotation is merely a short phrase which the president repeated in his speech dozens of times, in one form or another.
That's an actual quotation".
Perhaps it is an actual quotation, but if so, I am still looking for the source.
No, Mr. Ross, I do not feel 'daggers of dark desire piercing to one's very soul'!" (Not an actual quotation).
To end with an actual quotation, this one by Clement Greenberg: "Where there is novelty there is hope".
The actual quotation was: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.
The music is a haunting combination of modernist harmonies, jazzy bursts and actual quotations of melancholic dances by the 17th-century English composer Matthew Locke.
It teasingly managed to keep a nano-step ahead of any actual quotations but towards the end, the piece seemed to lose its way.
One play that has been much admired by audiences is Simon Levy's "What I Heard About Iraq," a stark recitation of actual quotations — some fatuous, some incomprehensible, some terribly sad — from the instigators of and participants in the Iraq war.
He seemed fairly clear, but after that post appeared -- and riled up Twitter -- Mr. Simon called The Times and cordially outlined his disappointment with portions of it, though he didn't take issue with the actual quotations and declined to clarify his comments further on the record.
When trying to reconstruct the philosophy of Heraclitus, for example, modern scholars rely above all on the actual quotations from Heraclitus' book preserved in later authors.
