What Makes A Quote, Well, A Quote?
We often look at and read quotes like holy gospel. We search and scour them for relevance and guidance in times where we have none. The knowledge of the past can definitely help one living in the present live a better life now, and continue to live that better life in the future.
So when we find that awe-inspiring, inspirational, and life-changing quotes, we tend to hold on to them. It changed our lives for the better, and no one can deny that to us. But my question is, what makes these powerful quotes meaningful? What gives them the agency over our lives to make our lives better?
That, and more, is what I’ll be exploring today.
The Speaker Behind The Words
I have a couple of theories to explain the nature and aspects of a powerful quote, but I’ll start with this one.
Quotes, especially powerful ones, often come from the mouths of people who have been through dark situations. These people have been in situations where it appeared as if the sun would never shine upon them again. When we hear a quote from a person who had suffered greatly, we tend to value it more. They have seen the world, and her darkness, more than most. This makes their words even more powerful.
This also goes for people who have seen their dreams and aspirations come true. We value their quotes because they have made it. By reading their quotes, we feel like we have taken another step to accomplish what we want most in life. And most times, indeed we have.
Quotes like these:
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank
“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” — Malal Yousafzai
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” — Steve Jobs
“I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.” — Lionel Messi
Quotes like these are powerful because they come from the mouths of people who have seen the darkness in the world and choose to see its light regardless. They have come from once average, everyday people, who scaled the mountain and conquered their dreams.
People like Anne Frank, Malala Yousafzai, Lionel Messi, and Steve Jobs are inspirations to many people around the world for their bravery in dire straits, and for their perseverance towards their dreams.
The Way It’s Written Or Spoken
Words, whether they are spoken or written down, are an incredibly powerful tool. They can be persuasive and moving. They can teach one another about any topic almost instantaneously. They are one of the few weapons we have against the many evils and injustices of the world, like ignorance and tyranny. Quotes are a powerful and compact usage of these words.
When you read something that just flows, that’s easy to understand, yet powerful at the same time, we tend to remember it more. The same goes for when we read something that we feel directly applies to us. It sticks in our memory, and often won’t leave, and that’s a good thing.
What I mean is, the wording of a quote is important. As a quote, we must be able to “quote” it, (See what I did there?), in situations that apply. Let’s take a look at a quote here and evaluate it, especially the wording.
Die with memories, not dreams. — Unknown
This quote is simple and to the point. It’s easy to understand and very relatable, which harkens back to the topic we discussed earlier.
“Die with memories, not dreams.” is just a more eloquent way of saying, at least to me, “Don’t have regrets. Go out and make your dreams a reality.” The difference is is that the original quote sticks more in your head. It sounds and rolls off the tongue better, and that’s important.
A quote is supposed to impact your life, offering a viewpoint that you might not have seen prior. But when that quote is jumbled together and doesn't roll off your tongue so elegantly, it loses its very essence. In other words, it impacts.
It’s Message to Us
It’s quite often true that a quote pertaining to losing weight is much more beneficial and meaningful to a person trying to lose weight than to a person who relatively has no desire to lose weight.
A quote that does not apply to your life and situation currently, even with an experienced creator and superb articulation, has a lesser impact than a quote that pertains to our situation in the here and now, even with a lesser-known or less experienced creator at the helm.
Quotes, like many aspects of life and writing, are subjective. And while quotes that come from experienced and well-known authors, and have that perfect roll of the tongue quality may still be great in their own right, you cannot underestimate the power of a quote that is directly about what we are going through currently.
The true power of a quote lies in its ability to relate to us as human beings, with our own relative issues and hurdles to jump. I think the true beauty of quotes is the fact that they come from people like and unlike ourselves, yet we all are human beings.
A quote is like a window into someone's thoughts and emotions, and it’s a window that is not too unlike our own.
So, in accordance with the laws of being meta and ironic, I leave with you a quote.
“Quotes help us understand, inspire, motivate, clarify and show our approach to things around, this is why people and I love quotes.” — Takyou Allah Cheikh Malaynine
Thanks for reading Writers Guild — A Penname publication
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