See my comment above. The core difference is that (list ...) evaluates what's inside. So (list (+ 1 2)) returns (list 3). ' doesn't evaluate anything. So '((+ 1

See my comment above. The core difference is that (list ...) evaluates what's inside. So (list (+ 1 2)) returns (list 3). ' doesn't evaluate anything. So '((+ 1 2)) returns '((+ 1 2)).