People often find inspirational quotes made by famous people quite profound and very therapeutic. Typing ‘words of wisdom’ or ‘quotable quotes’ and ‘therapy quotes,’ into any search engine reveals a bountiful and familiar treasure trove of bons mots.

There has been plenty of research on quotes and words of wisdom in therapy and coaching over the years, and the results are all positive. 1

So much so that some modalities add them under a technique called ‘sagacity.’ Positive psychology considers it a key part of a resilience building exercise called ‘The Four S’ of Resilience,’ a tool that is made up of support, strategies, solutions, and sagacity. The latter part actively requires you to search out some inspirational quotes that empower you during times of challenge.

Sagacity is defined as the ‘quality of having or showing understanding and the ability to make good judgements.’ At least, according to the Cambridge Dictionary it is. It’s also quite the game changer according to research. 2

Words have power. But they don’t always come from where you think they came from. It always pays to check that the person it is attributed to not only actually said it,........

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