Whenever I need inspiration to write, I open up Google and put quotes about.... For instance, I am writing a book about a woman who wants to move her son out of the slave states and so I put in 'quotes about slavery' and this is one of the first quotes I found:

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, speech, Mar. 17, 1865

Oh snap!

That opens up many paths of a chapter for me. I can write about the person who is arguing for slavery and create a background for him where he felt as if he were enslaved and vows never to feel that way again - even if it means placing someone else in the position he fights to stay out of.

I can write about the mother who wants to move her son away from her so he will not have to deal with the actions and words of others who believe they can treat him anyway they wish because he is the son of a slave, even though his father is a slave owner.

It could be about the abolitionist who comes to town to preach against the practice and is both welcomed and harassed.

That quote gives me an entire world in a sentence.

And that is what quotes do: they give us a wide expanse of feelings in a few short words; even if you don't exactly agree. Example:

Every woman should have four pets in her life. A mink in her closet, a jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed, and a jackass who pays for everything.

PARIS HILTON

It's not that I agree with the quote - although I don't really - it has some humor. I just don't think Paris Hilton is smart enough to come up with it on her own, but it is fitting that it's attributed to her. It makes sense to think she might be have been the first to say it.

Quotes help us to express ourselves in so many words without having to come up with those words. They define our moments and our history just as well as a novel or poem. They give us insight into how we're feeling at the moment and how we can feel about the past and the future. They even help us laugh at ourselves as we reach for inspiration.

Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary, was full of wisdom which he expressed in quotes:

Bore n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen.

Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.

Obviously, the most quoted books are those of the major religions: The Bible, The Koran, Buddha and Confucius give us some of the most quoted and enduring phrases from the Bible's "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" to Confucius' "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."

We like quotes because it provides great wisdom in small, memorable phrases. We can pull them out of our heads when we need them for ourselves. We can share them with others and make ourselves seem knowledgeable and caring.

The beauty of the spoken and written word, no matter what the language, is that we can remind ourselves who we are in long speeches, epic poems or flowing prose or by a short, pithy phrase between two quotation marks.

Learn more about this author, Beverly Bochenek.
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