WORDS QUOTES VI

quotations about words

I am spoken to not in words, which come to me quaint and veiled, but in signs, in conformations of face and hands, in postures of shoulders and feet, in nuances of tune and tone, in gaps and absences whose grammar has never been recorded.

J. M. COETZEE

In the Heart of the Country


A good word costs as little as a bad one, and is worth more.

BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE

Moral and Religious Aphorisms

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I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.

GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

November

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The proof of battle is action, proof of words, debate.

HOMER

The Iliad

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If we use common words on a great occasion, they are the more striking, because they are felt at once to have a particular meaning, like old banners, or everyday clothes, hung up in a sacred place.

GEORGE ELIOT

The Mill on the Floss

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If you can express yourself so as to be perfectly understood in ten words, never use a dozen.

HORACE MANN

Thoughts

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Whether they are growls of anger, the laughter of happiness or cries of sadness, humans pay more attention when an emotion is expressed through vocalisations than we do when the same emotion is expressed in speech. It takes just one-tenth of a second for our brains to begin to recognise emotions conveyed by vocalisations, a study said. The researchers believe that the speed with which the brain 'tags' these vocalisations and the preference given to them compared to language, is due to the potentially crucial role that decoding vocal sounds has played in human survival.

EDITOR

"We are better at detecting laughter than words", Z News, January 19, 2016


One cannot be too careful with words, they change their minds just as people do.

JOSÉ SARAMAGO

Death with Interruptions

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Words are sometimes signs of ideas; sometimes of the want of them.

ELIZA COOK

Diamond Dust

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In our world, words seem to flow in endless disharmony. Words are often misused in ways that do an injustice to truth. We are exposed to endless words in print, social media and everyday speaking that do not build a framework of goodness, honesty and truth. We experience words that alarm, serve people's own selfish needs, are untruthful, controlling, or seek to appeal in ways that do not speak the truth in love. When the power of self-interest replaces truth, we are headed in the direction of chaos.

LARRY ROREM

"Choosing our words truthfully", Juneau Empire, March 26, 2017


Words are in this respect like water, that they often take their taste, flavour, and character, from the mouth out of which they proceed, as the water from the channel through which it flows.

CHARLES CALEB COLTON

Lacon

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No word matters. But man forgets reality and remembers words.

ROGER ZELAZNY

Lord of Light

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My God! The English language is a form of communication! Conversation isn't just crossfire where you shoot and get shot at! Where you've got to duck for your life and aim to kill! Words aren't only bombs and bullets -- no, they're little gifts, containing meanings!

PHILIP ROTH

Portnoy's Complaint

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Words once sequenced into phrases were never done with but recycled themselves in perpetuity.

WILLIAM GAY

Provinces of Night


Today it is even more important to acknowledge that words should matter and are very important. That importance, however, stems from them being the only game in town. That is, they are, for most of us, the only tool we have to communicate. While this is true I must also say that today no one should worship words, because on close inspection they do not hold up to scrutiny.

DAVID BUCIENSKI

"How much do words really matter?", Southgate News Herald, March 9, 2017


Words don't just change meanings randomly -- rather, implications hanging over a word gradually become what the word means. SUN implies HEAT. In a language, one might talk about getting some 'sun' in the meaning of warming up. After a while, in that language the word SUN may actually mean nothing but HEAT, something that would happen step by step, under the radar.

JOHN H. MCWHORTER

"Not so lost in translation: How are words related?", The Christian Science Monitor, February 3, 2016


Always having to have the last word is a bad trait. Pisses people off.

LAURELL K. HAMILTON

The Lunatic Cafe

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First words are critical. Just ask any novelist or screenplay writer.

RICK BROWN

"The first words you need to hear", Your Houston News, January 13, 2016


Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world

DEPECHE MODE

"Enjoy the Silence"


Words are but the shining garments of Thought.

EDWIN LEIBFREED

"The Song of the Soul"

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