APA Papers: Quotes in an APA Paper . . . A.K.A. The Rule of Thumb

Have no or few direct quotations. I am interested in your thoughts, not your ability to embed others’ strings of words in your prose with quotation marks. When one quotes, I wonder, sometimes, whether the author understands the words at all. So try to paraphrase---restate in your own words. 

The rule of thumb:

25 words or fewer in quotation marks for every 500 words of your own prose.