Whether they’re overheard tidbits that we jot down for our own safekeeping, or time-worn idioms that have facilitated generations of thinking and healing, quotations can play a big role in how we understand ourselves and the world around us. These cherished words resonate with us because they strike at some fundamental truth, often putting into words what can otherwise feel largely ineffable.
Quotes can come from just about anywhere: great literary works, songs, films, motivational speakers, public and historic figures, or even from elegantly insightful people in our everyday lives. What makes a quote truly memorable is that it packs a lot of wisdom into a small number of words. Or, as poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon once said, “An apt quotation is like a lamp which flings its light over the whole sentence.”
Here, we’ve rounded up 14 quotes about the ongoing fascination we have with quotes, and the significance they have in keeping us enlightened, uplifted, and curious.
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.
Old words are reborn with new faces.
In quoting others, we cite ourselves.
Life itself is a quotation.
Jorge Luis Borges, writer
Minds of people need a good revolution and great quotations are good revolutionists.
Mehmet Murat İldan, playwright
A quote is a powerful tool for our mind, our soul, our spirit. A quote can sharpen your mind and give you an instant and rapid relief if your soul is down, in a dark time.
The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until an equal mind and heart finds and publishes it.
I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.
Marlene Dietrich, actress
The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.
Affirmations and quotes are a great way to rewire your thoughts.
A humorous quotation is a little window on the world that gives life a comic twist.
Gyles Brandreth, writer and politician
A book that furnishes no quotations is no book — it is a plaything.
Thomas Love Peacock, novelist
It is in the quotations of so many incredible people that I am able to find succinct clarity about life’s infinite challenges.
Featured Image Credit: porcorex/ iStock
Joyce Chen
Joyce Chen is a writer, editor, and community builder based in Seattle, Washington.
