Sharing catchy phrases — spoken by everyone from Albert Einstein to This Is Us patriarch Jack Pearson — has become a go-to form of communication. There are over 5 billion Google search results for “quotes,” 87 million posts with the hashtag #Quotes on Instagram, and dozens of groups dedicated to quotes on Facebook and Twitter.
Our obsession with quotes may seem to be driven by the rise of social media — where being short and pithy makes it easier to grab attention and likes — but it’s almost as old as time, says Matthew McGlone, associate director of the Center for Health Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. “You hear people talk about proverbs being handed down from generation to generation as wisdom. Sayings have long served as a way to communicate wisdom in teaching and conversation,” he says.
But we don’t just use quotes as a quick way to pass on values and life lessons; we also use them to connect and commiserate with one another. “I think that’s the brilliance of a quote — its brevity,” says Today host Hoda Kotb, author of I Really Needed This Today: Words to Live By, a book inspired by the incredible feedback she received from her Instagram fans when she posted a quote. “It’s so short, but all of a sudden it hits you in a space and way that you didn’t know it could. There’s nothing worse than feeling isolated and like no one understands you. Often you can feel an emotion but can’t put it into words. Then all of a sudden you read eight words strung together and you say, ‘That’s it. That’s exactly what I’m feeling.’”
Right now there’s a big focus on inspirational quotes, ones chosen to motivate us to do or feel something positive. And while this can be very powerful, experts say that sometimes it’s the quotes that relate to sadness, pain and struggles that stick with us most. (Kotb’s most-liked quote on social media is one from author Jamie Anderson about grief.) “Positivity can be off-putting if you’re down and someone is writing about how lovely life is,” says Todd Thrash, a professor specializing in inspiration at William & Mary. “What makes a quote ‘good’ is not just positivity, but who the person reading it is, what they’re doing with their life and how they’re understanding the world.”
When you find yourself particularly moved by a quote — inspirational, sorrowful or otherwise — therapist and coach Jacqueline Socastro, L.C.S.W.R, says it’s important to get curious about what exactly the words are making you feel, because they can be pointing to a good opportunity for change. She recommends asking yourself:
- Why does this quote resonate so much with me?
- What value does this quote honor or support?
- How can I apply this to my life in a small, actionable way?
“Sparking reflection and awareness is very important, but a quote in and of itself is not going to change anything without its being connected to some action,” she says. If you rarely come across sayings that feel likely to inspire that level of introspection, we highly recommend Googling “Jack Pearson quotes.” Seriously, that character is a quote gold mine.
This story originally appeared in the January/February 2020 issue of Good Housekeeping. Subscribe here.
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