fast way for counting lines in a table

[Anon]

hi,
i have a postgresql db, which carries a particular table containing quotations;
each time a user loads a given dynamic page from the webserver, a random quotation is loaded;
the table desc is like:
ID,QUOTE ( sequencial number, varchar2 );
so i use a "select quote ... where id = random(TOTAL_LINES)" to fetch the quote;
my problem is how to find TOTAL_LINES other than a "select " ? the quotes' table is growing and the "select " will be a problem shortly.

( the dynamic page is PHP, obviously )

[Anon]

A 'select count(*)' statement should be fine. Or why dont you select the largest id?

select max(id) from table;