I Hate Quotations.

Well, I don't really, but apparently Ralph Waldo Emerson did.   To quote him:  "I hate quotations.  Tell me what you know."

I hope you were able to see the irony in that.  It certainly has gotten me thinking.  (Gosh, I like when that happens...)  I, for one, am guilty of falling back on using a good quotation when I can't think of anything original to say.  Why do we think we can appear wise simply by the use of someone else's thoughts?  It really is a cop out, isn't it? 

That is why I love the second part of Emerson's quote:  Tell me what you know!  That's better, isn't it?  I love to hear what is really on people's minds.  Granted our humble, pedestrian thoughts are usually not very grand, but in them lies reality.  In them is our effort to make sense of life, whether it be at its most delicious or its most bitter.  That is what makes it real.

Although I do love a good quote, particularly one that stimulates thought and pondering, I am going to try to use them in moderation.  If I blog about a quotation, it will be one that enables me to lead into "what I really know".  Or think.  Or wonder about.  Or worry about.   Perhaps the use of quotations is most valuable when it lends itself to sharing more about oneself.  That will be my yardstick.  I suppose I could fill up my blog everyday with poignant, pithy, and philosophical quotes from the greatest minds of all time. 

But then how would you get to know me?