> the actual guile scheme documentation didn't seem to explain that syntax at all.

  (quote data)
  'data

Quoting is used to obtain a literal symbol (instead of a variable reference), a literal list (instead of a function call), or a literal vector. ' is simply a shorthand for a quote form. For example,

  'x                   ⇒ x
  '(1 2 3)             ⇒ (1 2 3)
  '#(1 (2 3) 4)        ⇒ #(1 (2 3) 4)
  (quote x)            ⇒ x
  (quote (1 2 3))      ⇒ (1 2 3)
  (quote #(1 (2 3) 4)) ⇒ #(1 (2 3) 4)

Note that an application must not attempt to modify literal lists or vectors obtained from a quote form, since they may be in read-only memory.

— <https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/manual/html_node/Expressi...>