Consider this blog post the antidote to all those syrupy inspirational graphics your friends share online. I know that you know what I’m talking about. People spread their flotsam and jetsam via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and so on. Their social-media accounts are used, abused, and populated with an overabundance of cloying content.
Do I sound a bit peeved? That’s because I am. I’m all for uplifting words and images. But honestly, some of the stuff your friends are posting regularly, just to garner online eyeballs and make their accounts stickier than chewed gum, is DREK! I respect people who love and own pets. Sometimes, though, I just can’t handle looking at one more “adorable animal” on Facebook. Enough with the kissable kittens and treacly truisms…
It’s fun to have (inspirational) fun with social media, but it’s good to vary your sources intermittently. Yes, I’m biased, but I prefer unusual or profound quotations from authors (and other assorted human beings). I’ve even done the due diligence for you. So sit back, relax, and prepare to bookmark these inspirational quotation and quote-graphics resources:
BrainyQuote.com Is for Geeks and Intellectual Peeps Everywhere: What I love about brainyquote.com is that the people managing and curating it have taken the time to create an enviable list of authors’ quotes.
Regardless of how highbrow or lowbrow your literary aspirations, you’ll find not-so-typical quotes from a diverse range of people. The roll call includes Albert Camus, Coco Chanel, Jim Morrison, Niccolo Machiavelli, and even Tupac Shakur.
The site also provides an “In the News” component to let you know when recent quotes from (mostly alive) authors and celebrities are available. Another fun feature for you to tap into is the Quote of the Day.
Find Famous and Obscure Author Quotes with ThinkExist.com: This is a simple, utilitarian quotation resource for those of you who need minimal distraction when hunting down your famous (and not-so-famous) author quotes. Thinkexist.com is tidily organized, with a clean navigation bar at top: “Quotations,” “Authors,” “Topics,” “Keywords,” and “Contributors.”
You also have the option of adding the site’s Dynamic Daily Quotation to your website or blog. Easy peasy, Japanesey!
Get Philosophical with BeyondtheQuote.com: Although not as visually pleasing as some of the other quotation sites, beyondthequote.com offers “motivating and actionable thoughts that will push you towards your goals.” Naturally the site provides motivational quotes for you to play with, but there are other categories for your consideration, including “Beyond Inspiration” and “Beyond Success.”
Productivity Enthusiasts Will Love SourcesofInsight.com: While this site is more of an article library on personal development, life hacks and other like-minded topics, there is a page dedicated to Great Quotes.
Feel free to explore the quotes on Sources of Insight, but be advised you’ll be copying and pasting text from this site (rather than clicking a “share” or “post” button). There are no glossy graphics or precious-pet images accompanying these words of wisdom.
Pick Some Juicy (And Physical) Inspiration at TheBerry.com: In general, this site’s home page seems somewhat shallow to me. The Daily Motivation sub-page is where you want to be. For those of you seeking to light your own exercise fire, you’ll find plenty of motivational words and images here–about 29 pages of it. Have fun scrolling through theberry.com’s Daily Motivation castle!
QuotesBuddy.com Is for My Visually Inspired Friends: While I suspect some of the motivational messages on quotesbuddy.com approach the outer limits of my discomfort zone, the range of quote graphics available for uploading to Facebook is impressive. Hey wait a minute, some of these look awfully familiar. I bet many of my Facebook friends already use this site…
No matter–there is truly something for everyone (with a Facebook account) on Quotes Buddy. When you have a moment, check out the Clever Quotes, Computer Quotes, or Smoking Quotes.
A Few More Miscellaneous Websites for Your Bookmarking Pleasure: Before I run out of motivation, here are some additional quote-graphics resources (and humorous graphics that have nothing to do with scholarly inspiration) for your consideration:
- Quotelicious – Good Life Quotes
- Graphics99.com
- FunMunch.com Funny Pictures
- Do-It-Yourself Sites for Creating Quote Graphics (courtesy of List.ly)
Tell me true: When you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or some other online place where certain peeps post inspirational quotes or quote graphics daily, are you tempted to hide or mute these dear souls? If you already use any of these suggested resources, which do you like best and why? What other websites might you add to my list?
I don’t know about you, but one of my best sources of inspiration has everything to do with a man named Randall Stephens, a soaring aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and Fort Hancock, Texas. To find out what it is, roll over the link and click through (enjoy)…
Lori Shapiro is the owner of By All Writes LLC, a business-to-business (B2B) writing, editing, and research company in Marlton, New Jersey. She revels in shielding her clients from the pain of writing their own print and web marketing or educational copy. Please call Lori Shapiro at 856-810-9764 or email By All Writes LLC at lori@byallwrites.biz for a no-obligation project quote today!
Thank you so much! This might just be one of my favorite compilations.
Although….I DID find the photo of Oz asleep with his cheek sliding down the staircase rather uplifting JUST because it makes me laugh every single time I look at it. But next time I shall match it with one of your source’s quotes.
Hi Cheryl,
You are quite welcome–I learned a thing or two regarding the hidden world of quotation sources when researching this post. If you don’t mind, perhaps I’ll tweet it one more time on Twitter and quote some of your commentary.
And BTW: Your photos of Oz are always smile-inducing, so please, continue to share them on Facebook!
Regards,
Lori