Senior Quotes: A Call for Purpose (2024)

Is the point of a senior quote not to leave an impression of yourself? It seems as though most senior quotes in recent generations have devolved to an “inspirational” quote from one famous person or another, most likely and most often something found online, on television, or on social media. They have become yet another desperate attempt to grab attention, to get one’s peers to say “wow, that’s so true!” or, “wow, that’s so inspirational!” The problem with this is that it shows no sense of self. As a senior, regardless of if it’s in high school or later education, you’re about to depart on a path separate from those around you the people you have been surrounded by for some number of years. So, shouldn’t the quote you choose reflect some personal character?

Senior quotes should be something unique to you, whether that be something you’ve coined through school, a philosophy that you can be genuinely be recognized by, or something else related to the unique person that you are. For example, the first half of my high school senior quote was simply, “Don’t worry about it.” It sums up my life philosophy, and it’s something that I actually say quite a lot. I received comments from my friends and peers about how accurate my quote was to me, especially once they started to think about just how much I shared that as the foundation of my being during the past four years of our lives, and how much I openly lived by it. The four words themselves are plain, and with no context, they are as empty as the quotes I argue against. The point is, I presented something with a unique meaning to me and my personality, and not just something mildly motivational found on the web.

There is my personal case, in which I felt already personally attatched to my quote as it was the belief that I’d come to on my own, but there are other ways to go about making your senior quote unique to you, and not a lackluster clump of words that has no tie to you as a person. One of my classmates found a quote which was something along the lines of “Life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you react to it.” A slight varation to a Charles Swindoll quote. It is most definitely a cliche, and on its own does have meaning in itself, but what he did with that quote is that he genuinely built his life around it. Although it wasn’t his quote personally, it still was representative of him. In this case, the quote has meaning itself, but the meaning that he gives it through his own actions and livelihood are what see it to be viable as a perfect senior quote.

The objective is I am holding is not to establish a stigma towards cliche quotes, but to bring attention to the importance of a senior quote: the potential to have a quote that presents the essence of oneself in a memorable way, and the unfortunate wasting of said potential, especially in more recent times. The term “cliche” often carries a negative connotation, to say of something that it has been overused, or overdrawn. Cliche quotes, really, should not be looked down upon for just existing. They are overused for a reason. It is because of their truths, and how those truths hold to be timeless to human sentiment. They certainly belong in the world of shared culture, and yes, it is perfectly good to use them as a senior quote, but it should be the person that gives meaning to the quote, and not the quote giving meaning to the person. When used for the latter, the words commit nothing but blank remembrance.

There is one quote that I’ve seen that above all others so far has highlighted the disconnection between these seniors and the quotes they’d like to be remembered by. The quote is, “We’re here for a good time, not a long time.” The most that this quote has going for it is that it can be considered a philosophy of life. Both retrospective and prospective outlooks on life are excellent for senior quotes. The problem with this one is, it’s an exaggerated ideal, unfit for tying to a single personality. It is a well-said and well-meant quote otherwise, touching on the depths of existentialism and in some ways the absurdities in nihilism. Another excellent example is, “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; they are just the stepping stones to success.” The point is not to disregard the quote, but to acknowledge the disconnect and non-relation between the quote itself and the person using it as their claim to memorability. The quote has truth, sure, but will it represent somebody specifically? The answer is a crisp no, because it is not personal, and can be said by anybody who has ever done anything, therefore representing nobody at all.

Especially in high school, the entire senior year experience is especially for building around one’s own self, with themes like, “find your passion,” and “follow your dreams,” encouraging students to embrace their own interests. Senior quotes are no different. They can be inspiring, exciting, or even humorous, but if they’re not tied to the person saying them, they’re just as meaningless as a random page in a “Quote of the Week” calendar somebody might put in their office, only to neglect to tear to the next week every Friday as time goes on. In a nutshell, senior quotes should ultimately prioritize personal representation over passable relativity.