Don’t Quote Others, Be The One Who Is Quoted

Too many writers, it seems, lean heavily on quotes from (those presumed to be) the Masters of philosophy and personal development. This is just my impression, but it seems as though this is often an attempt to bring some credibility to the writing when, perhaps, none is needed.

This is just one of the ways our culture of dependency shows up. This feature of our society has risen of late to be a dominant theme of so much messaging. It has become perfectly normal in modern times to spend much of our precious lives hanging on the words and deeds of others, rather than developing our own voice of wisdom.

It is crucial for the survival of a young child to be hyper-focused on the behaviors of adults as a way to understand the world around them. That is a process called “modeling”, and it is a natural part of childhood development. But, the human design is that this process eventually gives way to the development of our own voice and behaviors.

This evolution of guidance is often thwarted when we are raised and educated not by humans, but by egos whose only mission is to control you instead of love, educate, and empower you. In that scenario, we will often remain stuck in the dependence on the voices and actions of others for guidance, rather than listening to our own voices for inspiration.

This shows up in our writing as “quoting the masters”.

Noting the author of a relevant quote could be seen as a sign of respect, but all too often, I fear, it is the passive/aggressive form of name-dropping instead. Somehow, we believe it lends credibility to thoughts that we hope will attract a wider audience.

Here on the receiving end, I would prefer the quote to be from the person writing to me. Or, at the very least, let the quote stand on its own merit rather than be adorned with the reputation of the author. There is no law that says you must state the author of a quote unless it is copyrighted material. But, no one can copyright wisdom.

As a reader, perhaps that quote has no immediate relevance to your life or what you’re experiencing. Does knowing it was penned by some ultra-famous past or present notable suggest that the idea should be relevant, even when it’s not? There is always that danger.

Isn’t being worthy of having their thoughts oft-repeated as ultimate truth just another form of idolatry. And, we do love idol-worship, don’t we? But, when it comes down to wisdom, those people we have designated as worthy of idolatry are no better than you and I. Their insights are also available to us all, young and old, rich and poor, intellectual or non.

They are available to anyone who chooses to pursue only that which enhances the experience of life directly. A direct enhancement of life comes from your understanding of life and the world around you, and the stories you tell yourself and others about it.

An indirect enhancement of life would include things like appearances and money. They only translate into an experience of life if and when they are converted into experiences; as in, at some future date, but not now.

So, those quotes from the “wise ones” are all the result of courageous new stories; the ones that seem unreal at the moment — mostly because they are unfamiliar — but reap huge benefits in our understanding of life and the world around us.

These stories are what is referred to as “positivity”. But positivity is nothing more than notions that raise our experience of life. There is no other magic about them. Likewise, negativity is that which diminishes it. Only always. And, only always in the present moment. And, in whatever words do the job.

The source of all wisdom is positivity. And, positivity is available to us all through the medium of our thoughts. Also in that way, you are the source of as much wisdom as any of the so-called great thinkers in history.

Raise the level of your experience by any thought possible — no matter how unreal it may seem in the moment. Then, write down the insights that occur to you in that state. Years from now (or, perhaps even days) it will be these words that are hailed as “words of wisdom”.

As for all of the existing quotes from the usual list of great thinkers, they were all derived in just that way. And, they are all available to be improved upon… by you. Many are blatantly outdated and hard to comprehend anyway. So much so that the writers citing them must add addendums that interpret what was just said.

The message here is that you have something important to say; something the world needs to hear. Re-quoting oft-recited messages-of-old is a distraction from the job of your new and improved versions of those notions. Or, perhaps, entirely new notions. You don’t need to name-drop some highly-regarded sage of old for me to click on your headline, or pay attention to your writing.

I, for one, will be anxiously standing by to hear what you have to say.