Quotations on social media, it could be said, is the modern-day version of the Chinese fortune cookie. While the latter provides patrons with the usual after-meal thrill of guessing what’s in store in your future as a form of small entertainment, the online servings of quotations provide us with our daily dosage of the pleasure-giving neurotransmitter, dopamine.
A big difference, really. Fortune cookies are served once a meal is over and you could only avail of one, or a few. Also, one can only avail of them from selected Chinese restaurants. In comparison, the social media counterpart, along with its related entree of memes and images, one can avail of anytime (without even being aware of it), as long as you are hooked up (pun intended) online.
It could be argued that some of these internet features really come from their actual sources. Yet in reality, one cannot really distinguish these real McCoys from those which are just made up or refurbished to serve a certain purpose. No matter, what comes out as the most entertaining from all the quotes floating around in digital space are those that poke fun at the quotes themselves.
I remember seeing one photographic image of Abraham Lincoln holding a brand new I-phone. In the post, he is quoted as saying “Never believe anything you see or everything that have been attributed to me. Photoshop has not yet been invented in my time.”
The second type of quotations come with inspirational messages and that really tug at one’s heartstrings. In the old days before the internet, one could only buy these lift-me-up pick-me-ups in book or booklet form, from some bookshop downtown where you’re at and understandably, because of their make, they cost a fortune.
Nowadays, why bother? With either data or Wi-Fi connection, you’re instantly provided with your unlimited supply of “Quotable Quotes” as Reader’s Digest, puts it. With just that, you are on your way to happy surfing.
In the end, let me just repeat a reaction I said just now, why bother really? Amidst the nonsensical portrayal of life in whatever form that are available to everyone today, the presence of quotes, from either famous people, politicians, stars or the working man actually give us whatever luminescence we need along the life road. Despite the show of confidence in posture of swagger, people never really know themselves and many use them as guideposts. So, what does it matter what they think of you?
Let’s just end this thank-you note dedicated to quotations by honoring it with but another quote I just happened to read a while ago.
“Life is short. So, break your silly egos. Forgive Quickly. Believe slowly. Live truly. Laugh loudly and never avoid anything that makes you smile.”
