Quote collecting

What other people’s one-liners reveal about me

I love a good quote.

Whenever I catch one from the corner of my eye I do a double take, nod my head in agreement, and quickly save it in my note-taking system. I’ve accumulated quite the collection and I admit, I might be a bit of a hoarder.

What is this irresistible appeal to a bunch of someone else’s words?

Why am I attracted to quotes so much that I manically save them whenever I stumble upon another ‘must-have’?

It’s not you, it’s me

Although quotes are by definition written by others, the reason I’m attracted to them is something in me.

When I find myself ‘loving a quote’ it means that I resonate deeply with it, and something resembles or reinforces my own philosophy of life. They are reminders of what I know deep down but don't always have top of mind.

When I come across a quote that speaks to me, it’s more than just thoroughly agreeing. I feel like I’ve always known its message but have never been able to put it into words like this. 

‘Yes! I couldn’t have said it better myself.’ And I didn’t, they did.

Collecting quotes

I’ve bought many books telling myself that buying it will probably lead to reading it (ahem, it does not). Quotes, like books, have the same collectable quality. Sometimes it can even feel like it’s less about the power of the message and more about the need to collect, note down, or simply save.

It may be true that some of these important life lessons are slipping away if I don’t jot them down somewhere, but it’s not enough to simply copy and paste.

Luckily, I often find myself quoting people while talking and quotes flow into my writing naturally.

In conversation, I usually ‘butcher’ these quotes though and rephrase them in my own words, but I think this is actually a valuable exercise. This way I’m digesting the idea instead of regurgitating someone else’s words (even though they might be more succinct).

Talking and writing about my favorite quotes proves to be a great way of keeping them alive. It helps me internalize their meaning, keep them top of mind, and makes me feel a little less like someone with an accumulation problem.

Respecting the craft

There’s also an element of deep respect to my hoarding habit.

I’m writing this newsletter to clarify my thoughts and crystalize them into words and while this is very valuable to me, the act of expressing myself through writing is still very hard.

It’s basically making a million decisions a minute. And for a recovering perfectionist, making decisions isn’t easy. If it were up to my former self, I’d never make a decision and stay lingering in the world of endless possibility, and endless stagnation…

Every week, when I’m done revising, editing, and incorporating the feedback on my drafts and I have finally published, I’m relieved. I’ve partly enjoyed the process - sure. I’ve gained a lot from it - yes absolutely. But it has also been extremely hard at times.

This is why I respect a great quote so much. When someone puts something in such a concise manner, I’m immediately in awe of the clarity, craftsmanship, and creativity of the sentence. I’ve had a taste of how difficult that must have been.

Quotes and wicker

While I can see the allure in putting up some of my favorite one-liners around the house, I have a feeling that if I do, my once meaningful and affirming quotes will quickly become invisible, void of meaning, and part of the furniture.

There’s even a whole industry that exploits this called ‘motivational decor’. You know what I’m talking about. Stores full of white-washed furniture, wicker, and fake driftwood decorated with things like ‘live, laugh, love’ on it.

Often these statements, sayings, and quotes are so overused, clichéd, and obvious that they lack depth and originality.

In the Netherlands these platitudes have historically been displayed on ceramic tiles and it has even resulted in a specific name for these so-called ‘wisdoms’. We call them: 'tegeltjes wijsheid', (literally ‘little tile wisdom’) and most people are well aware that these usually aren't the deepest of truths.

The reinforcing power of quotes is too valuable to just put them up on the wall (or hide them between our dusty notes). They must be spread, implemented, and lived.

Three foundational quotes

What would an essay on quotes be without some killer one-liners? I’ll leave you with three quotes that I strongly resonate with and that have been with me for years.

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” ― Desmond Tutu

I’ve always been interested in ‘how things work’. I’m less concerned with patching things up with bandaids (i.e. pulling people out of the river) than with investigating the root cause and making serious improvements.

The area where this idea of ‘root-cause thinking’ has been most crucial has been my own health journey. Instead of treating symptoms I’ve been investigating what’s causing my issues. And I’m slowly but surely finding out why people are falling into the river.

“Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is essentially your own” ― Bruce Lee

Listen to others. Be inspired, admire them, and by all means steal their wisdom. But make your own decisions. Because your experience matters.

Every person (including me) has something unique to contribute to this world. Finding this thing and expressing it is the most important thing we can do. This quote is an empowering confidence booster that affirms this for me.

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” ― Marcus Aurelius

This symbolizes my own growing up and leaving perfectionism behind. Where I used to talk about what needed to happen (and do nothing), now, I’m implementing and doing. I want to be a role model that practices rather than he preaches and this quote is my best reminder. It often floats through my mind, be it in its shortened version ‘Be one’.

P.S.

For all of my fellow quote-hoarders that immediately went into copy-paste mode when they saw the quotations, here’s an interesting afterthought just for you.

A funny paradox for me is that, when a quote is good, it doesn’t really matter to me who said or wrote it. But then again, it’s also an interesting reason to research the person that wrote it, so I sometimes investigate.

When you start diving into the world of quotes, especially ‘famous’ and often-repeated ones, you quickly discover that many, if not most well-known quotes are misattributed. Often, it’s not even clear to who they belong originally. To look up the origin of your favorite quote, check out Quote Investigator.

Enjoy.