Thinking about words and their sway over us ….
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1, King James Version of the Bible
“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.” Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam
“I like good strong words that mean something.” Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.” Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!” Nathaniel Hawthorne
We are daily bombarded by words: in print, on screen, just about everywhere we look in the city. These sign boards are just a small number encountered on a single run down Orchard Road this past week. Whether consciously or otherwise, we are washed with these messages. How do we even begin to process and filter? What are we filling our thinking space with? How does this affect our behaviours? What about the words we exchange with those around us? What do we do with this power we are each given?
I am left with more questions than answers. What are your thoughts & feelings about this?
This is my contribution to One Word Sunday: Power hosted by Debbie at TravelWithIntent
All things bright and beautiful 
The signs you found do show the variety of messages out there –
I enjoyed your peer of words – and the Hawthorne one might be my fav here – but John 1:1 is one of my very favorite verses – I have an old cassette tape with a radio teacher saying that verse on air in December 1992
It was cool the way he said it.
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And the Medina song was nice – have you ever heard of this one :
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Yes, I have, but not in a while! Great lyrics & beautifully rendered – thank you!
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Wishing you a nice weekend
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I read a line in a very cool book recently to the effect that ads are the poetry of capitalism. I really liked that.
It’s interesting reading your post now; T and I were having a conversation about the linguistic knots people are tying themselves in trying to accommodate gender fluidity.
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I really like that Su: poetry of capitalism – how apt!
This whole accommodation of gender fluidity is a fascinating journey – I still remember when it started decades ago with the his/her issue in writing academic papers. And still it continues.
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I remember that too. And doing Women’s Studies’ papers where people argued that ‘women’ should become ‘wimmin’.
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I love exploring language – learning new ones and seeing the links between the words and the history and culture of a country. So choosing words as power is a great choice.
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This is a great and thought provoking interpretation of this theme. Words do have great power and the hearer or reader of words play such a big part in just how much power they get.
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Absolutely! The Reader/Hearer/Receiver has such a great role to play – all of us who deal with words would do well to remember this!
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This is such a great reminder Ju Lyn. We have such power in our words- more than we may realize.. it’s something to be taken seriously & I love the scripture and quotes you shared- I have to write those down- they are powerful!
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I am so glad you enjoyed the quotes. Indeed, I am awed with the power & responsibility we have been bestowed with. Next question, what shall we do with this power?
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