MS> What I want is: MS> (setq 23) MS> (defmacro foo () 'bar) MS> (foo) => 23 MS> (let ((bar 42)) (foo)) => 23 [note: CL actually yields 42] MS> (setq bar 57) MS> (foo) => 57 MS> (let ((bar 42)) (foo)) => 57 [note: CL actually yields 42] Holger> But exactly this behaviour is what you get when you use Holger> (defmacro foo () bar) instead of (defmacro foo () 'bar): Ah, now I see what you meant. Unfortunately, this approach works only with self-quoting values for BAR: (setq bar #'(lambda (x) x)) (defmacro foo () bar) (let ((bar #'(lambda (x) (+ x 1)))) (funcall (foo) 23)) => illegal form #<CLOSURE :LAMBDA (X) X> Consequently, what you're doing is really an accidental hack. -- Cheers =8-} Chipsy Friede, Völkerverständigung und überhaupt blabla