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My Fascination With Quotations

Quotations - Almost everyone has a favorite! You will find quotations hung on office walls, taped on kitchen cupboards and displayed on refrigerator magnets. There has rarely been a speech or a book written that was not interspersed at regular intervals with them. What is it about quotations that we find so fascinating? From my perspective, quotations are an observation about some facet of human life, distilled to its essence and stated in a manner that we can instantly relate to. The quotation is like an axiom - an indisputable statement of truth. The credibility of the words is enhanced in direct proportion to the quality of the author’s character and the significance of her/his achievements. Much wisdom is packed into a few words and the quotation is therefore a powerful teaching tool about human life.

“I owe my legal career to a quote by Calvin Coolidge”

I can still vividly recall that morning in 1973 when the envelope arrived containing my LSAT (Law School Admission Test) marks. I had obtained my Bachelors degree the previous year and had taken a year off from school with plans to travel and work in the North. Life, however, does not always go according to plans and instead, I ended up working in my father’s insurance office in my home town. I was fortunate to have wonderful parents and to have been raised in such a fine community but I had made other plans and was extremely frustrated that things were not working out! My self confidence began to erode. Alternate plans were made to enter law school the following year and my admission would require a reasonable LSAT score. The exam did not go well for me for a number of reasons and I dreaded opening the envelope. However, even my low expectations did not prepare me for the result; I had scored in the bottom 15 per cent! The result essentially confirmed and reinforced the negative feelings I was having about myself at that time. My Aunt Mae who worked with my father in his insurance office must have sensed my despair. She reached into the drawer of her desk, then pulled out and placed before me a paragraph printed out on well-worn brown parchment, which read as follows:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, “Press-on,” has solved and will always solve the problem of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge

Those words instantly impacted me with their truth. Of course! I did not have to be a brilliant scholar or an intellect to be admitted to law school, all I had to be was “persistent”. Arrangements were made to re-register and re-write the LSAT. Preparations began in earnest - previous tests were reviewed and books were read. Calvin Coolidge’s words were reviewed each day as a constant reminder and they propelled me forward. I re-wrote the LSAT and ultimately gained admission to Law School where those same words sustained me throughout my years of study. Calvin Coolidge’s words on that same brown parchment have graced the walls of my law office for the past 28 years where they continue to guide and motivate me to this very day. I owe my legal career to those few lines written by Calvin Coolidge, the 30 th President of the United States, and to my Aunt Mae who encouraged me through his words.