A recent blog post talked about quotes and their dangers. Saying they were dangerous and set bad examples by condensing entire lives into a few “inspirational” words.
Shortly after, in a podcast, I quoted Maya Angelou: I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
That stung as hypocritical. So, I dug deeper into the why it felt that way. Why quote her? Why feel the need to quote her? Why write a blog post about the dangers of quotes, then immediately quote in a podcast, then put it in the show notes?
I am reading Adam Grant’s new book Think Again. Recording ideas / inspirations from the book. Writing words and phrases that stick out, inspire, or cause a reaction. Concepts to dig deeper on, or write about, or talk about in a podcast.
Why the contradiction? Why say one thing, then do another?
After processing, it became clear, it was not a contradiction. It required clarification. This could be summed up by what was said above: “they were dangerous and set a bad example and condensed entire lives into a few ‘inspirational’ words.”
When the quote makes life out to be a “all you have to do is…”, “once you do ‘x’ you’ll be…”, or “all it took was…” that’s dangerous. Those set a bad precedent. Those display a lack of time, effort, hard work, and investment required to do something (sometimes even the ones that try and say it takes time, effort, hard work to do it).
The example of Maya Angelou’s quote above is not a “by the bootstraps” quote. Not a “hang in there”, “reach the top of the mountain” one and done “if you only…” quote. It is a map. A lesson. It takes more words to make its point, without needing a paragraph or page. Which is why it is easily quotable, but more than “just do it” (which, based off a previous post “just try it”. That does not spark an energy surge straight into a brick wall. Which, for some reason, we seem to prefer).
When seeing a quote, does it feel like a dopamine hit, or cause reflection? Does it make you think “YEAH!” with no substance, or direction? Does it give guidance and thought, a little nudge, something you can work on, or think through?
I still think certain quotes are dangerous and set a bad precedence. Yet, felt the need to post a clarification. Because, there is a difference between quoting someone and someone writing to be quoted.
Posted. Not perfect.
A Vegan Father, navigating a non-vegan world
A Better Father 