Related quotes
“Words from empty words they sever—
Words of Truth from words of Pride.”
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Scottish physicist
Part III Poems, "Reflection from Various Surfaces" (April 18, 1853)
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell (1882)
Context: By the hollow mauntain-side
Questions strange I shout for ever,
While echoes far and wide
Seem to mock my vain endeavour;
Still I shout, for though they never
Cast my borrowed voice aside,
Words from empty words they sever—
Words of Truth from words of Pride.
“Empty words almost echo within themselves”
Cecelia Ahern book Thanks for the Memories
Source: Thanks for the Memories
John Marsden book Tomorrow, When the War Began
Source: Tomorrow, When the War Began
George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States
2010s, 2011, Speech at the Gerald R. Ford Foundation (2011)
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
Socrates (-470–-399 BC) classical Greek Athenian philosopher
Phaedo 115e
literally: 'For know well', he said, 'o dearest Kriton, that to not speak well is not only sinful by itself, but lets evil intrude into the soul.'(εὖ γὰρ ἴσθι, ἦ δ᾽ ὅς, ὦ ἄριστε Κρίτων, τὸ μὴ καλῶς λέγειν οὐ μόνον εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο πλημμελές, ἀλλὰ καὶ κακόν τι ἐμποιεῖ ταῖς ψυχαῖς.)
Plato, Phaedo
“To-morrow it seem
Like the empty words of a dream
Remembered on waking.”
Robert Seymour Bridges (1844–1930) British writer
I Love all Beauteous Things, st. 2.
Poetry
“There is no such thing as an empty word, only one that is worn out yet remains full.”
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) German philosopher