Quotations: The New F-Word

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. -Elbert Hubbard

Quotations have become the "f" word of the literary world. They can be used in almost any situation and nobody really thinks twice. Think about all the different sentences you have crafted in the past which featured the vulgarity of the "f" word. Surely it has been a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, pronoun, title, etc. It was also most likely used to convey such emotions as anger, happiness, apathy, sorrow, etc. It is the Swiss Army Knife of words, if you are ever at a mental loss just throw out a couple f-bombs to buy some time.

Very quickly, quotations are seeping into every foreseeable avenue. Competing studies have shown that society both writes more and writes less than previous generations, I will lean towards the former conclusion. While people may not be crafting epic letters with the skill of a true wordsmith as our Elizabethan brethren did, there are more circumstances in which the written word is used. It is almost never really the "written" word anymore, but instead the "typed" word. The act of putting pen to paper is not important, the putting of thoughts into words is. Twitter, Facebook, text-messaging and email have become the most common forms of communication (besides, you know, talking) and all of these methods involve placing word after word together to make a coherent statement.

Sometimes, though, it is difficult to come up with the best words. To be fair, enough people have lived and recorded statements in human history that someone, somewhere has probably captured what you are trying to say better than you. At some point, C.S. Lewis was pondering the importance of friendship, just like you might be after an important moment when a pal comes to your aide. C.S. Lewis is smarter than you and me and he has the ability to put his thoughts into words better than you and me. So when C.S. is quoted with saying, "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.", it can replace whatever jumbled mess you would have thought of. So instead of thinking more, you drop a quote-bomb on your Facebook page.

For experiment sake, I will now look through my Twitter feed to see if anyone has dropped a quote-bomb in the past few hours. Sure enough, just two hours ago Donte' Stallworth (mediocre wide receiver now playing with the Baltimore Ravens, also a noted DUI manslaughter-er) posted this:

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever -Chinese Proverbs

Thanks, Donte'. Inspiring words there. 

But what does this mean? There was no context. This did not speak to anything else he was discussing. But Donte' is not alone by any means. Countless people will fill Twitter feeds around the world with meaningless quotations (I am not immune, I went back on my tweets and found this gem from December 18th: How many times does the end of the world have to arrive before we realize it's not the end of the world?' -Michael Lewis from Panic. I have been working on beating this habit, going three months strong now). What an odd phenomenon? People are rewriting what others have said or written years ago on this new medium. The problem is that when the original statement was made, it actually meant something.

Next stop, any college classroom after any written assignment has been collected. For discussion purposes, let's say the topic was the current conflict in the Middle East. A typical student will think about the topic for three and a half minutes, then take a nap, have a beer and forget about the assignment for the next week. When the deadline approaches they will proceed to Google "war quote", click on the first link, search for another three and a half minutes and then begin their paper,

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. -Eleanor Roosevelt 

What a better way to add gravitas to the paper than by pulling in a famous quote? It is brilliant.

Unfortunately, half of the essays will begin this way. A theme of thinking has developed that quotes are some sort of wonderful literary device. The more influential the quotee, the more impressive it's inclusion will be. It would be one thing if the writer was pulling these quotes from a previously studied topic, instead my guess is that 98% of quotes used are now taken from quote-compiling websites. The humanity and context of the quote is lost. It becomes more of a copy and paste, paint by numbers approach to crafting an "opinion". Much like a sleazy fake watch salesman, these sites offer what you need, when you need it. Just step inside and make your pick.

Did people twenty years ago use quotes as pervasively as we do today or is this a trend which has exploded recently? I fear that if we do not start to develop our own thoughts using our own words, we risk slipping down the slope towards losing our voices. Every civil rights march is now filled with Martin Luther King quotes on signs and t-shirts. Every peace rally pulls in the words of Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Every technology conference has a Power Point slide with a quote from Steve Jobs. Sure, these figures did great things, said great things and are worthy of admiration. But at what point does one stop looking to their idols for their feelings?

I will end with a thought from one of my favorite quotable figures, Homer J. Simpson. He himself turned to a quotation (actually a definition, but the results are similar) when it came time to give a wedding toast:

What is a wedding? Webster's Dictionary defines a wedding as "The process of removing weeds from one's garden."

Don't be a Homer. Make your own memorable quote.

GRM

Quotations: The New F-Word