Exploring Mottos

By Matilda Cutting, Trailblazer Blog Writer

I recently read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and the one subject that stuck with me was mottos. The Cambridge dictionary defines it as a short sentence or phrase that expresses a belief or purpose. I’m personally a strong fan of motto’s and believe they are really important because they highlight the characteristics that are most important and you can tell who a person is by their personal motto.

We Were Liars focuses on the protagonist Cadence “Cady” Sinclair and her summer vacations at her grandparents private island where she hangs out with her teenage cousins and her cousin's best friend–Gatwick, Johnny and Mirren. The four of them call themselves “The Liars.” During one of the summer vacations Cady suffers an accident and through the next few summers tries to remember what happened. I truly loved the book with all its plot twists, and can’t recommend the book enough!

The one thing that’s still stuck in my head weeks after reading the book is the conversation the liars have about mottos.  By the end of the conversation each of the liars have chosen a  personal motto they would like to live by. 

Johnny says, “don’t eat anything bigger than your a** and don’t eat yellow snow.” His mottos are a good example of how you can tell so much about a character through their mottos and dialogue. We can tell that Johnny is a humorous character who maybe doesn’t take life too seriously.

Cadence says, “always do what you are afraid to do,” which in a way highlights and foreshadows the bravery and confidence Cadence has throughout the book as she tries to regain her memories and recover from her accident.

Mirren says, “be a little kinder than you have to,” which emphasizes how important compassion is for Mirren.

And finally Gat says, “do not accept any evil you can change,” which shows that in the future, Gat hopes to change the world for the better.

My personal motto is one I hope to live my life by. It is actually a quote from my favorite fictional character Helen Decataur. She is from the book and TV series “Sweet Magnolias.” The quote goes, “sometimes if we treat people as if they’re good, it challenges them to be good.” I appreciate this quote because it shows how important kindness and treating others with respect truly is to me.

So, what motto do you want to live your life by?

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash