Do Eagles Use Storms to Reach Unimaginable Heights

This is a response to Rand Fishkin’s recent article on SparkToro: “An Anonymous Source Shared Thousands of Leaked Google Search API Documents with Me; Everyone in SEO Should See Them.”

The full blog post is long and worth reading, but the part that really got me is this section:

Prior to the email and call, I had neither met nor heard of the person who emailed me about this leak. They asked that their identity remain veiled, and that I merely include the quote below:

An eagle uses the storm to reach unimaginable heights.
– Matshona Dhliwayo

After the call I was able to confirm details of their work history, mutual people we both know from the marketing world, and several of their claims about being at particular events with industry insiders (including Googlers), though I cannot confirm details of the meetings nor the content of discussions they claim to have had.

My first assumption was that this was some kind of SEO code, whereby a searcher would type this quote into Google and find their way to the author. Instead, what I found was that this is, most likely, some kind of misquote. Or at least Google would have you think so:

Now if you know me at all (and you might not), you’ll know that misquotes are one of the things that’s most upsetting to me in the world. I’ve written about them several times and recommend that you read this thing by me if you want more on the subject.

Frankly, my biggest concern about AI is what it will do to the already rampant problems of post-truth internet and, by extension, misquotes. The misquote is a manifestation of our indifference for accuracy and precision.

But that’s not why I’m writing this. I’m writing this because I want to know why the anonymous ex-Googler quoted Matshona Dhliwayo and why they chose the quote: An eagle uses the storm to reach unimaginable heights.

And I think that by writing this, and throwing this question into the void, I’m more likely to find the answer.