Proper punctuation for this title?

The title is the title and should be capitalized accordingly. Inside the work itself, or in a preface or acknowledgements page you can include the quote (and the attribution, of course).

While I agree with ^ – I am curious as to why one would need to quote someone for the title – can’t you come up with an original title? The quote, while probably important, shouldn’t be the “name” of the piece… I think….

Capitalize as you would normally.

Your title should probably include more than a quotation, however. (I’m assuming this is an academic essay.) Lots of people lift significant phrases from the texts they’re writing on and incorporate those phrases in their titles. E.g., if you were writing on A Tale of Two Cities, your title might be:

“The Best of Times and the Worst of Times”: Chronotopic Duplicity in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities

A silly example, and the quotation’s not exact in this case, but you get the idea. Generally a quotation is not enough to succinctly describe your paper (which is what a title should do), no matter how relevant it is.

Thanks for your answers guys! Ordinarily I wouldn’t use a quote to title something, but our professor specifically said to “entice the reader with an irresistible title” and not to use the title of the texts we’ve read. And I really think this quote will draw him in. Plus, in my instance the quote proves the point I’m talking about.

“This is how it should look.” – John Doe

You might want to type it in bold to give it emphasis. : )

Or you could paraphase the quote: A Dark and Stormy Night.