Inspirational Quotes At Work

When decorating your office space, be aware of the power of the inspirational or motivational quote.  It can inspire, make uncomfortable or nauseate your audience.

There’s a picture of an eagle, wings spread, flying in the clouds.  The words say:  “Dare to Soar  Your attitude, almost always determines your altitude in life.”  I’m making a ‘gag me with a spoon’ face right now.

I happen to love a good quote, especially when it makes me feel something I’m ready to feel.  It depends on the context: what mood am I in, who is the author, where did I happen upon it, is there an image and is it cheesy, is the font swirly and hard to read, is it multi-colored and distracting, is it located appropriately, the list goes on.

People bring their entire life to the interpretation of a quote and, as a result, quotes will be felt in ways we can’t imagine.  Consider these examples:

What do you read here – empowerment, bitterness or freedom?  “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Pride, shame, empowerment?   “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  ― Maya Angelou

Huh?  It benefits from context to bring deeper meaning to it.  “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” ― Bob Marley

Full of meaning or telling me what to do?  “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ― Albert Einstein

I’ve seen cubicles with every inch covered with quotes and offices with not a thing besides paper clips and a pencil.  It’s your space and what you do with it communicates who you are to your colleagues.  Consider what you want to feel in your space and what you want visitors to feel in your space.  And then choose what words and images best represent You.

“Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility.”     – Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I wonder how you interpret that?