Quotes should have more contrast (default light theme)
Quotes serve two purposes: 1) Replying to a specific part of someone else's comment, and 2) introducing new information from an external source.
Replying to a specific part
When replying to someone, the current low-contrast black-on-gray style makes sense because it's redundant info.
However, when quoting an external source, my eyes tend to gloss over the quote, which is unfortunate. Current workarounds are: mild editorializing by bolding certain words; or paraphrasing the source, which is often a waste of time or can be misleading if someone misread the original.
In summary, my inner thoughts say:
I suggest we make quotes higher contrast, so that the ones introducing new info can add to the conversation, rather than be ignored due to visual de-emphasis.
Quotes from external sources often imply authority and that their author has given a topic a lot of thought. Therefore they are valuable to include in a conversation and should carry the same weight as text written by any random user.
Edit: Screenshot of this post using light theme: https://i.imgtc.com/wVdoFN6.png
I'd like to see more contrast in general. :)