One of the side-effects of the massive spread of start-up culture and its deceptively original gimmicks in the world of work is the omnipresence of inspirational quotes on corporate walls. To walk into any company today is to be greeted by a décor you've seen a thousand times before, made up of green plants, multicolored sofas and mantras displayed above the smoothie bar: "It's hard to fail. But it's worse never to have tried to succeed" (Theodore Roosevelt), "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do" (Steve Jobs), "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to how to dance in the rain" (Seneca).

It's as if the spirit of Marcus Aurelius had oozed right out of the cafeteria's woodwork. These wall-mounted motivational tools, which place the aphorisms of great historical figures (Ghandi, Plato) on an equal footing with those of digital entrepreneurs (Mark Zuckerberg), sometimes swarm in elevators or on flip charts. Today, they can even be found on personalized water bottles and mugs.

The presumption behind this managerial practice is rather curious. It's a bit like in The Matrix when Neo's character downloads the science of kung fu into his brain at breakneck speed. A simple phrase from Einstein that you might have caught during your office coffee machine run is supposed to transform you from a gray cog into a creative genius through its sheer force of semantic contamination. But let's be honest, it doesn't really work. Generally speaking, you return to your seat with your coffee, but without any extra ideas to add magic to the marketing brief you were sweating over before leaving your seat.

Therein lies the paradox of the inspirational quote. Originally, it was supposed to invite you into the company of great minds, as if they were your new office colleagues. "Who hasn't dreamed of talking to the likes of Gandhi, Einstein, Socrates, Mohamed Ali or Michael Jordan?" asked Charles Dussol, author of Les Citations Inspirantes Qui Vont Changer Votre Vie ("Inspirational Quotes That Will Change Your Life").

But in reality, what the inspirational quote actually does is to return you to the repetitive banality of your everyday life (no, you're not Churchill facing the great upheavals of history, just a guy trying to make photocopies on both sides without succeeding). Sometimes, after reading the same sentence that urges you to "impose your luck, embrace your happiness and go toward your risksk" (René Char), you start to feel a hint of Orwellian angst.

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