Is there any education value of quotable quotes?

When I was growing up I really loved quotable quotes and always searched for good ones in books and newspapers. One day I came to know that compilations of really good quotes are also available in  book format. I was excited. I got one and eagerly started reading from page one. Past few pages, I stopped reading. I was disappointed. I was not getting the inspiration from reading high quality quotes in a book.

After some thought I realized that quotes were good for me when I read a single one once in a while and tried to internalize it by thinking long and hard about  it. This was obviously not happening when I was reading quotes in a book in alphabetical order.

Many years later when I studied Dr. Edward de Bono and learned that, what every type of training and education (as well as fights and wars) aimed for, was perception change. Now as we grow older and older it becomes harder for us to perceive things in a new way because we settle down each new thought into our established thoughts (patterns). So it becomes really hard for us to change our perception (and thus get any value) from reading a quotable quote casually and then moving to a next one.

Then there is a big question of context. Every quote makes sense in a particular context. For example Jinnah's popular quote 'work, work and work' can easily make you a heart patient without understanding it in a proper context.

In contrast to quotable quotes, thinking tools (as invented by Dr. Edward de Bono) take almost the same amount of time and effort as reading a great quote but can change your perception for your entire life. And fortunately these are just few.

My highly knowledgeable and intellectual friend Marryam Chaudhry posted her thoughts on facebook in these words:

Marryam Chaudhry has noticed that people luv to post quotes coz they sound nice.. How many of you actually read- retain- amend yourself accordingly??? I'm no angel n yes I have horns ;) but at least I try!!!

You are right Marryam. The educational value of quotable quotes is close to zero.

And, yes, facebook has turned into a giant quotable quotes book.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan