The Power of Words (quotes from this article adapted from other sources)

A wise king once wrote: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” It seems a direct contradiction to a perhaps more familiar proverb which says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Oh, really?  Words don’t hurt?  Try telling that to the families of children who have been bullied into isolation, depression, even suicide.  In fact, words are very powerful and carry with them the potential to render great harm or good to the recipient. 

I once had the misfortune of squandering an entire semester in an English Lit class, simply because of poor choices to procrastinate and avoid reading the material. The result: failing a college English course in my sophomore year—and English was my minor!  As a junior, I transferred to a new school, retook the course I had failed, and met a new teacher.  Personally, I struggled with whether or not I was really as unintelligent as getting an F would normally suggest. You can imagine the shock when I got back my first paper in my new class with a big red A atop the page and this simple comment from my new prof:  “Your superior talent is quite evident.”  In six simple words, I shed my shame of being a loser to really believing something was working upstairs after all.  I never forgot it, aced the class, and went on to teach English for ten years upon graduating from college.

Do words matter?  Consider the thoughts of greater minds than mine…

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. -Jesus

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. -Robert Frost

There are two types who say very little: the quiet type and the gabby type. -Unknown

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

 -Plato

Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.  As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God. -King Solomon

Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of a witness. -Margaret Millar

Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas a man speaks only when driven to speech by something outside himself; like, for instance, he can't find any clean socks. -Jean Kerr

After all is said and done, more is said than done. -Unknown

The words we say will teach if we practice what we preach. -Unknown

When you are arguing with a fool, make sure he isn't doing the same thing. -Unknown

If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind - give it more thought. -Dennis Roth

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. -Mark Twain

Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence. -Spanish Proverb

Never miss a good chance to shut up. -Will Rogers

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. -C.S. Lewis

Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them. 

-Adlai Stevenson

One half the troubles in this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough. -Josh Billings

If you think little of a person, you ought to say as little as you think. -Benjamin Franklin

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. 

-Harriet Beecher Stowe

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. -Colossians 4:6

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. -Ps. 19:14

Couldn’t have said it better myself.  Speak life into those around you today.  You never know when it just might be a lifeline. 

tad