When you find yourself drawn to quotes like “execution eats strategy for breakfast” or “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,” you’re defining yourself as a kind of person - one who acts, one who gets things done, one who is resilient and preservers through hardship. On a recent episode of the NPR show, Invisibilia, host Alix Spiegel explained it as “a powerful impulse that is written into people…this urge to want to clearly differentiate themselves, to declare their category.”Īnd indeed, it is extremely powerful.
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One of the greatest human motivations is our desire to be able to both fit into categories or types of people, and to feel like we’re in good company (and, often, limited company) once we’re there. Image via DesignMilkĪnother reason we love inspirational quotes? They affirm what we already know (or think we know) about ourselves. Websites like BrainyQuote and GoodReads specialize in just pulling out the most salient or affecting pieces and making them accessible and relatable. In the internet era, finding motivational quotes is as easy as, well, Googling “quotes about…” and then narrowing your search. As Timm Gunn explains in his book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life Lessons In Making It Work, there’s no shortage of places to find inspiration, either. Quotes are also really useful because they’re succinct distillations of larger texts or concepts - which, when we’re in a hurry or need a piece of art that doesn’t cover the entire cubicle wall, is really, really helpful. In a way, reading quotes is kind of like having a conversation with friends - only it can be done alone, and any time you need it. Even just reading an excerpt or a line of text that offers a new perspective or idea to your own set of thoughts, beliefs, and understandings can spur further ideas in you, and back up the ideas you’re already forming. This is why brainstorming with others can be really effective, and why reading the thoughts (and, specifically, quotes) of others is so inspirational. But what we do know is that there’s a kind of feedback loop of ideas - or, more simply, ideas create other ideas.
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The science of motivation and inspiration are tricky to study we know that there are neurological reasons behind almost everything we do (and everything we make), but it can be hard to capture those moments in a scientific setting. But why? What is it about quotes and mantras that we find so motivational? We print them on t-shirts, we hand them on posters, and we even tattoo them on our bodies. We even like them when they’re the product of a shoddily Photoshop job. We love them in beautiful hand-lettering. A quick scan through Instagram will confirm something everyone already knows: People love inspirational quotes.