Feb 17, 2016 / Inspiration

Collecting Words and Sentences

As Emerson suggests, collect words and sentences that inspire you to speak your truth.

My journal, in the process of becoming my own "bible."

My college roommate and I used to collect quotes for one another. We’d write inspirational words down on Post-its and keep files where we regularly stored our favorite messages that we’d stumbled across. We both agreed: words are powerful.

When someone expresses an observation that we identify with, a sense of validation and synchronicity arises within us. We’re reminded that we’re not alone, that someone, somewhere else in the world, has discovered the same truth that we’re living or perhaps arrived at a conclusion we needed to hear ourselves.

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I came across the quote above from a fellow quote-collector, journaler, and generally uplifting blogger, Gala Darling. In her “30 Days of Radical Self-Love Letters,” she talks about starting a radical self-love journal where you can store all of the things that make you happy. Since I came across this quote, I’ve noticed my own journaling has changed quite a bit in turn. It’s filled less with my own internal ramblings, and more with words, images, and conversations that I find uplifting.

In short, it’s turning into my own “bible.”

What words and sentences have been like the blast of a trumpet to you? What bloggers, authors, poets, filmmakers, or artists have shouted your truth and spoken to you like no other? On the flip side, what is your own truth? If one of your readers were making their own inspiration journal, what message would you want to share?

The more we analyze our influences and the words that speak to us, the more we’re able to peek under the hood of our own writing. By exploring the quotes and phrases that feel like your truth, and that pick you up out of a writing rut, you’re able to uncover processes and truths in your own work. As you sit down at your keyboard this week, channel your greatest influences and either write your own blast of a trumpet or share what speaks to you.

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  3. Came across this quote by Alice Walker via Goodreads Quote of the Day — “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

    Original quote by me: “To catch up with the present, sometimes you need to confront the past.”

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Your post is awesome. I do agree about collecting your own quotes and inspirational stuff to make as your own bible, wow. I actually have thought about making like a scrap book or something of my life, my accomplishments, what I am going through or have been through, and add pictures of my boyfriend and I, etc.
    I am adventurous and ambitious so I do plan on trying what you have done, it is brilliant!!!

    Excellent post!
    God bless! ❤

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Thanks for sharing this post. I used to collect such quotes which are inspirational. After reading this post, I feel like I should start again.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Hey, how interesting I found this post, because I have the same habit too. I almost always write down, on my phone before, but now I actually bought a notebook for it, to write down all the sentences, or quotes from movies, or anything that suddenly capture almost perfectly how I feel or how I would feel. It is like a bit of joy, reading something that might describe me, but in much better expressions than my own in my own head. I guess, I am also starting to have a “bible” on my own 🙂

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  11. Every Wednesday is “Words of Wisdom Wednesday” in my classroom. Everyone brings in a quote that’s inspirational to share. We discuss, analyze and collect from each other. They keep them in their journal and use them when writing. It’s a great way of practicing analysis and supporting your ideas. It’s great to see people doing the same for themselves!

    Liked by 3 people

  12. I love this! I have been collecting quotes that speak to me off and on over time and I’ve been using them as my blog titles. I’m going to make a point to be more diligent in organizing what I’ve collected because I’m sure there are quotes I’ve long forgotten about that may inspire me to write something new.

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  16. When well chosen, quotes can indeed be uplifting and they usually speak volume. Just started a blog, wasn’t sure if I should insert some here and there, but after reading your post, I might finally succumb to the tentation.

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  18. I love a good quote, and there tend to be some that stay with you forever. If I read more “literary books” perhaps it would be them but I find songs and the lines in my favourite shows are particularly powerful because I add it to my own narrative in life, I enjoy that it takes on another level then.

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  20. Nice blog 🙂 Love the idea, I have a note book which I use to write down words that come to my mind as I write- or even poems verses that come to me in a blast. I agree writing them down is important as you can’t alway remember them.

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  25. I love this. When I was younger, my best friend and I had a “Quote Book” the held all of our favorite quotes. Any time we heard something that really hit us in a way, we added it to the book. I’ve gone away from that practice and I think it’s time to bring it back! Thank you!
    Natasha
    Trulysimplyhealthy.com

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  28. For sure, there are lots of great quotes to be found around the web. Here are three at random from my ‘bible’:

    Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. – Will Rogers

    Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it. – Robert Heinlein

    The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena … who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions … and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. – Teddy Roosevelt

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