Starting a quote with a number

I know you cannot start a sentence with a number written digitally (how do I say this?). For example I could not write:

2013 is almost over!

Can a quotation begin with a number, though?

For example, could I write

The man said, "2013 was the worst!"

or would I need to spell the year out?

Starting a (written) sentence with numerals is generally discouraged except when referring to a particular year (a quote would be considered in the same way as a sentence).

For information overload on this topic, see here.

Edited: See also here, here and here

I would add that another exception encountered in some sources pertains to decimals (e.g. 63.48% of American blog writers appear to be confused about the benefits of Obamacare.)

One exception that I have not seen but would not hesitate to use, if I could not, for some reason, rearrange the wording is an exceedingly large number. There is no chance that I would spell out 3,476,983,472.

I've found some support for my take on this issue:

Originally Posted by DecemberQuinn on AbsoluteWrite, in answer to the query:

I've recently been told it's wrong to start a sentence with numerals; i.e. "5235 Western Road was a big blue house...

I've never heard this rule before--it sounds silly to me . . . [is it actually a rule at all?]"

.........

Silly, arbitrary, whatever--it's an old rule listed in my most ancient grammar book and still alive and well today.

One finds, in response to a further comment in this thread:

You're a victim of someone who read something like the "Associated Press Stylebook" and mistook it for a universal authority. It's not.

The issue you bring up is a style issue -- NOT a matter of right and wrong. And writers aren't really responsible for knowing style.

Yes, most publications/publishers eschew numerals at the start of sentences (with some exceptions)...

If I were you, I would take a very broad and oversimplied [sic] approach to the "Chicago Manual of Style." (Bear in mind that Chicago has a WHOLE CHAPTER full of rules[,] and exceptions to the rules[,] and exceptions to the exceptions -- just on when to write numerals or spell out numbers. Nobody expects writers to know them all.)

• In the future, take every bit of grammar/punctuation/style advice with a grain of salt. Style books disagree. They disagree on style matters, which exist purely for consistency's sake.

P.S. DON'T listen to the Elements of Style. That was a style guide for one college professor's classroom a hundred years ago. Some of its wisdom still applies today. But it's not an official style guide that publishers follow today.

Again, in this thread at UsingEnglish.com:

Can we start a sentence with a number as in the sentence: '2010 will be a crucial year in the history of Singapore with the next general election most likely held sometime either in the middle of the year or towards the end,' or should we write "The year, 2010, will..."?

......

You can start with a numeral, and the context should tell you what the numeral relates to. In this case a new year.

Grammar-Monster (Susan's second link) has:

For neatness, try to avoid starting sentences with figures. However, if the number at the start of your sentence has a decimal point and you cannot reword the sentence, just leave it as it is. . . . If a number contains a decimal point, just leave it as it is. The "fix" is worse than the "fault."

Susan herself recommends

One exception that I have not seen but would not hesitate to use, if I could not, for some reason, rearrange the wording is an exceedingly large number.

A sensible, if arbitrary (on two counts), rule of thumb. I'm quite happy to accept the beginning of a sentence with any numeral; I might have once considered it 'untidy' myself, but can find no logical reason for this way of feeling. The effect of legalistic teachers, in all likelihood.