Can somebody tell me what is wrong with this:
%%Tweaked quote environment
\let\origquote\quote
\renewenvironment{\quote}{%
\vspace{-0.5\parskip}
\origquote
}%
{\endorigquote}My goal is to reduce the spacing above a quote environment.
[Tex/LaTex] Redefining the quote environment
environmentsquoting
Related Solutions
Using the setspace package you can use \doublespacing for your document and \onehalfspacing inside the quote environment:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text
\doublespacing
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{quote}
\onehalfspacing
\lipsum[1]
\end{quote}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}
If you want this spacing for all the quote environments, then a simple redefinition of the environment will do the job:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text
\expandafter\def\expandafter\quote\expandafter{\quote\onehalfspacing}
\doublespacing
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{quote}
\lipsum[1]
\end{quote}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}
You can surround the quote environment with a spacing environment with a 1 factor; additionally, to meet the new criterion in the edit to the question, you need to correct the spacing before and after the environment:
\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\doublespacing
\let\oldquote\quote
\let\oldendquote\endquote
\renewenvironment{quote}
{\vspace{\dimexpr-12pt-\topsep+\baselineskip\relax}\begin{spacing}{1}\oldquote}
{\oldendquote\end{spacing}\vspace{\dimexpr-12pt-\topsep+\baselineskip\relax}}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[2]
\begin{quote}
\lipsum[1]
\end{quote}
\lipsum[2]
\end{document}
In the example I used \doublespacing instead of the original \setstretch{1.15} just to make the results more visible, but the original settings will also produce the requested result.
Best Answer
Environments are written without backslash, in
\renewenvironmentDefine also
\endorigquote