people never forget how you made them feel maya angelou

Thank you, Lynne of Lynne’s Recipe Trails, for nominating me for the Three Day Quote Challenge. Check out her blog for yummy recipes!

I have heard this quote many times and it’s usually attributed to Maya Angelou. Do a quick search for it and that’s what you’ll find. Although I did come across a website called Quote Investigator (QI), which researches the origins of quotes. Their conclusion is that it was not Angelou’s, even though it’s widely attributed to her. QI says (with 19 citations to back up their research):

The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in a 1971 collection titled “Richard Evans’ Quote Book”. The statement was ascribed to Carl W. Buehner who was a high-level official in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

This sort of confusion over the origins of quotes reminds me of a segment done by John Oliver on Last Week Tonight (video here and article here) that pointed out instances of prominent politicians misquoting Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers in their speeches. Clinton, Reagan, and Obama to name a few. Oliver talks about how easy it is to search for quotes online, but that they may not necessarily be accurate.

“That is the problem with memes. If you have the right font and the right photo, any quote can seem real,” says Oliver on his show.

He even announced a new website where you can generate your own historically inaccurate quotes, and they are hilarious. Check that out at definatelyrealquotes.com

But back to the quote. Whatever the origin, it’s very meaningful. Whether you’re a teacher or public speaker and your job is to influence others, or whether you take it in the context of interpersonal interactions, the message is a powerful one.

However, seeing it online, and the number of image results that a search of this quote produces, got me thinking about another layer to all of this. Because of our constant access to the Internet and social media, people can remember what you say and they can remember what you do, as well as how it made them feel. At a time when people can be so careless in a tweet, text, post, or video, they forget that these messages live on and can follow them and their relationships.

Does today’s technology make this quote obsolete? Of course not. It’s not as if every aspect of our lives is recorded (and hopefully that’s not where we’re headed). But I think it’s important to be mindful of our communications with others. All types of communication. Always consider how you might make other people feel, because that’s what they remember.

 

Challenge Rules
1 – Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2 – Share one new quote on three consecutive days on your blog. They can be from anyone, anything, or anywhere.

3 – On each of the three days, nominate three more bloggers to carry on the fun! No pressure; nominees are free to decline.

My first-day nominees for this challenge are:

Cee at Cee’s Photography

Lana at Once Upon a Spice

Antonia at Zoale (She’s also doing the challenge at the moment but her blog is great so go check it out!)

Please don’t feel obligated to participate, it’s just for fun, and a way for me to say that I enjoy your blogs!

See my quotes for Day 1 and Day 2 also.

 

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