We’ve all seen them… those little famous quotes that people like to put on their facebook newsfeed or on twitter posts or on their bio page. You also see them as signatures on e-mails. These quotations of famous poets, writers, celebrities, businessmen, and scientists– just to name a few– often refer to seeking one's infinite potential and limitless opportunity, but sadly, this is not applying to the quotations themselves.
We are running out of quotes.
Frank Snarkbarker, who is an editorial consultant on books of famous quotations, explained it to me. “Bartlett’s is a big book, and a lot of people think there are just unlimited numbers of these pithy little aphorisms for us to use willy-nilly, but the fact is, as big as that book of famous quotations is. facebook and twitter are bigger. Shakespeare and Thoreau are almost completely exhausted. We are using up every other famous and obscure quotation in the literature. . , and at our current rate of consumption, we will be completely out of them by 2014.”
When asked what will happen quotations finally run out, he just shook his head. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I mean, there are some people who will do fine, because they are capable of original thought. But all those people who communicate by solely by cutting and pasting aphorisms, well, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them. It’s tragic, really.”
There is a growing movement of people who are working to conserve these quotations for future generations. If you want to help, you can send a donation to the Say Something Original Foundation. Visit them at apennysavedisapennyearned.com.
© Justin Locke
