More and more I see quotes from historical speakers, notable authors, and famous poets captioned under (or pasted right on top of) pictures posted on various social networks.
I’ve never been one for using quotes on Instagram, and I’ve never posted one as my status on Facebook. For some reason, the usage of quotes in every day life has always felt too fluffy and “deep” for my style.
It’s not that I can’t appreciate when others do it – a quote can absolutely add a greater significance to a visual. Often though, I see the picture, read the quote, and have a hard time finding the correlation between a picture of a beautiful sunset and a quote about the greater meaning of life.
Most people use quotes to add a complexity to pictures and thoughts, which is the exact opposite of my goal – to add clarity.
My writing style and outlook on life don’t usually wander into the realm of symbolic, flowery language. (I’m not one to think in poetic terms.) I want to read something and go, “Yep. Got it. Love it.”
I enjoy simplicity. I take pleasure in telling it like it is, and furthermore, hearing it like it is. It’s just the way I’m wired.
A couple months ago, my husband showed me an awesome Nike video by Casey Neistat. This videographer supplemented the film with quotes from renowned world figures in order to promote the slogan “make it count”. The quotes were all easy to understand – they had to be, seeing as each one only appeared in the movie for a few seconds.
Here was one of my favorites:
Do one thing every day that scares you.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
See what I mean, simple and great.
What really did it for me though, what really opened me up and gave me a new perspective on quotes, was very unexpected.
The key to unlocking my love of quotes was hidden in the box of Good Earth tea just above the kitchen stove. It took me a few tea bags to realize that at the end of each string, printed on those tiny square paper tags, were various quotes having nothing to do with tea, crumpets, breakfast, the British, or anything tea-related at all.
The first that caught my eye has become a cherished and defining quote for my life:
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
- Albert Einstein
Since then I’ve found many more that I love and am eager to share, each one “simple and great”.
And now I search, avidly, to find those quotes that, in all their simplicity, inspire me to do more, be more, and discover more of myself.
Today’s Good Earth quote was:
To live a life untamed and unafraid is the gift that I’ve been given, and so my journey begins.
- Cat Woman
Happy Quoting!