Use the
t switch with the $read identifier.
If the first line in the file is a number, it must represent the total number of lines in the file. If you specify N = 0, mIRC returns the value of the first line if it's a number.
If the t switch is specified then mIRC will treat the first line in the file as plain text, even if it is a number.
alias quote {
var %Line = $read("c:\mIRC Quote Files\random_quotes.txt",t)
msg $active %Line
}