Quotes for a Freethinker

 By Tania Kuehn

At some point during my late teens, I started collecting quotes– quotes from books, greeting cards, presentations, songs, everywhere and anywhere. I’d write them on scraps of paper and place them in a box, not sure what to do with them. Sometime in my late 20s or so, I re-wrote or glued them into a notebook. I kept adding quotes when I’d come across something I liked, and when that notebook was full, I started another one. From time to time, I’d refer to them when I encountered some situation and needed direction, or just wanted to be inspired or comforted.

It’s been interesting, looking through through the books now. Somewhere along the way, around age 26, I began to transition away from the faith of my growing-up years. I began to question Christianity. My relationship with God drifted apart, faded, became a foreign concept. I stopped listening to most of the music. I put away the God books. I re-evaluated many things in my world.

Looking through those notebooks a couple years ago, I realized that a lot of the quotes no longer hold much meaning for me anymore. They don’t make sense. I don’t grasp them so firmly anymore.  Some of the quotes are still in the books, because they’re written in pen or they’re glued in there; others, I’ve un-taped or erased. The empty spaces remind me of how life has moved on, and I feel a bit sad or nostalgic, but also liberated, unencumbered, light. I think it’s interesting how we see things through different eyes as we grow older.

Here are some of my favourites. Some are recent additions to the notebooks, and some of them I’ve had for ten or twelve years. Enjoy!