WORDS QUOTES VII

quotations about words

It is the stillest words that bring the storm.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

Thus Spoke Zarathustra


When I was a girl my mother said
I chattered like a magpie
even in my sleep, as if I knew one day
the words would all be stopped,
wine corked up in a bottle.

MAGGIE BUTT

"I am the Sphinx"

Tags: Maggie Butt


Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself.

MARK TWAIN

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Tags: Mark Twain


Thy words are like a cloud of winged snakes.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Prometheus Unbound

Tags: Percy Bysshe Shelley


I love and reverence the Word, the bearer of the spirit, the tool and gleaming ploughshare of progress.

THOMAS MANN

The Magic Mountain


A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

EMILY DICKINSON

"A Word is Dead"

Tags: Emily Dickinson


The empirical usability of the sacred ceremonial words makes both the speaker and listener believe in their corporeal presence.

THEODOR W. ADORNO

Jargon of Authenticity

Tags: Theodor W. Adorno


One mild word ... will quench more heat than a bucket of water.

JOHN THORNTON

Maxims and Directions for Youth

Tags: John Thornton


Theirs, too, is the word-coining genius, as if thought plunged into a sea of words and came up dripping.

VIRGINIA WOOLF

"Notes on an Elizabethan Play", The Common Reader


Words are the light and sound of our existence, the heat lightning by which the night is illuminated.

DAN SIMMONS

The Rise of Endymion


I shall repeat a hundred times; we really ought to free ourselves from the seduction of words!

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

Beyond Good and Evil

Tags: Friedrich Nietzsche


Words were too clumsy, sometimes; treacherous, too, always trying to twist around and mean something slightly different.

K. J. PARKER

Evil for Evil


Words are mere sound and smoke, dimming the heavenly light.

GOETHE

Faust

Tags: Goethe


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


With words, we can negotiate deals. With words, we can enter into the covenant of marriage. With words, we can declare war. Words reveal our intent and purpose.

RON WOOD

"Words are weapons", Meridian Star, January 23, 2016


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

Tags: Gustave Flaubert


I must make a choice every time I speak a sentence in English. I try to choose the happier way of saying things, so that my own words will not weigh me down like stones.

TAD WILLIAMS

Otherland: City of Golden Shadow

Tags: Tad Williams


Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.

LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN

Philosophical Investigations

Tags: Ludwig Wittgenstein


The beautiful word begets the beautiful deed.

THOMAS MANN

The Magic Mountain

Tags: Thomas Mann


Broadly speaking, short words are best, and the old words, when short, are best of all.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

speech on receiving the London Times Literary Award, November 2, 1949

Tags: Winston Churchill