Quotes about wording
page 93

“The word of God has fenced about all crimes with Holiness.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Romantic poet

Percy Bysshe Shelley. Queen Mab https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Queen_Mab/Canto_VII

“Arrogance complicates words, because it believes that intelligence is only for the chosen few. Elegance transforms complex thoughts into something that everyone can understand.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), About Elegance

Intelligence, Understanding

“Love is only a word, until we decide to let it possess us with all its force. Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Love has always passed me by

Love

“In order to hear Love’s words, you must allow Love to approach. However, when it does draw near, we fear what it might say to us, because Love is free and is not ruled by our will or by what we do.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Love has always passed me by

Drawing, Fear, Love

“I know words. I have the best words.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2015 Source: Speech in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn283OjPb1g, 30 December 2015, reported by Gawker https://gawker.com/yet-another-bold-claim-from-donald-trump-i-know-words-1750331997 and The Daily Caller https://dailycaller.com/2015/12/30/trump-i-know-words-i-have-the-best-words-obama-is-stupid-video/, among others.

“The word qur’an means “recitation.””

Karen Armstrong (1944) author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain

It was not designed for private perusal, but like most scriptures, it was meant to be read aloud, and the sound was an essential part of the sense. Poetry was important in Arabia. The poet was the spokesman, social historian, and cultural authority of his tribe, and over the years the Arabs had learned how to listen to a recitation and had developed a highly sophisticated critical ear.
Muhammad: A Prophet of Our Times
Muhammad: A Biography of The Prophet (2001)

“It speaks to our feelings and imaginations, as it were by suggestion; reaching for this very reason depths of our being quite beyond the power of mere words.”

Walter Raymond Spalding (1865–1962) American music pedagogue and author

On instrumental music, page 2 https://books.google.com/books?id=pQARAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA2. Music: An Art and a Language (1920), Preliminary Considerations (Ch. I)

Imagination, Feeling

“In the tradition of the ancients and of many great thinkers of our race, I am a Deist. Echoing the words of far greater thinkers than myself, I see an intelligent motivating force throughout the universe and behind Nature's Laws.”

David Lane (white nationalist) (1938–2007) American white supremacist, convicted felon

WotansVolk
Focus Fourteen

Intelligence, Universe, Motivation, Law

“I have to ask... are you familiar with the word “synergy?””

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

1960s, Presentation to U.S. Congressional Sub-Committee on World Game (1969)

“I find all of our world society is operating exclusively in parts. We know this because the word synergy is unknown popularly and it is the only word that means “behavior of wholes unpredicted by behavior of their parts.””

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

This proves that society does not even think that it has a need for such a word. This discloses that society does not think that there are behaviors of wholes unpredicted by the parts. It thinks statistics and probability are all that we need but if “probability” and “statistics” were of any power at all we could not have a stock market or gambling for we would know exactly how things are coming out and no one would bet against the probability.
1960s, Presentation to U.S. Congressional Sub-Committee on World Game (1969)

World, Behavior, Parting

“When we walk away from communion with the Church, what are we saying to the Jesus Who entrusted His words and His sacraments to her bishops and saints? Has His promise to be with His Church to the end of the world ceased to be true? Can He Who is The Truth be entangled in a tissue of lies?”

Liam Cary (1947) Fifth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker

The Dark Sea of Scandal https://www.dioceseofbaker.org/documents/2019/2/100718.pdf (October 7, 2018)

Truth, World

“This is the world and this is life. The more you reply to negative words, the more they fool you, and the less you speak, the more they stupid you.”

Ayuel Monykuch (1997) South Sudanese Entrepreneur

Fools, Stupidity, World, Life

“The one constant in my life is the landscape, in a broad sense of the word. I love the openness of the land and worry about how we’ve built our lives upon it, how little we maintain it, and how we assault it. It’s one reason for me to want to photograph it.”

An-My Lê (1960) American photographer

Interview with ARTNews (3 March 2020)

Sense, Love, Life

“It is not enough to proclaim the word of God without putting it into practice in every Christian’s daily life. The word of God has to be lived in every person’s daily activities and in communion with other people.”

Louis Portella Mbuyu (1942) Congolese catholic bishop

homily at the celebration of the Mass to mark the Golden Jubilee anniversary of Dei Verbum https://cnsng.org/makepdf.php?tab=1365 (November 23, 2015)

God, Personality, People, Life

“People talk about 'my career,' but 'career' is too pompous a word. It was a job, and I have always felt very privileged to be paid for what I love doing.”

Barbara Stanwyck (1907–1990) American actress

As quoted in "Barbara Stanwyck: 'I'm a Tomorrow Woman" by Aljean Harmetz, The New York Times (March 22, 1981), p. A1

People, Love

“Poetry is bad standup. It's carefully chosen words that have no laugh at the end.”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (2012 — Present), Season 9 (2017)

“If God entrusted his word to priests, it’s easy to explain why the world refuses to listen to it.”

Menotti Lerro (1980) Italian poet

Donna Giovanna, Act IV, scene ii.
Theater Quotes

God, World

“If you want understand how a woman loves you just have to listen her words backwards. If you want to understand how a man loves, when he talks about love you must close your ears.”

Menotti Lerro (1980) Italian poet

Donna Giovanna, Act I, scene ii.
Theater Quotes

Love, Understanding

“In a relationship, the word 'sorry' is worth more than gold. However, the more it's mentioned the lesser your love and affection becomes.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Love

“It seems that even the word ‘peace’ in general does not come at a free cost. Meaning that, peace can be obtained only when one is acknowledged as a master over the other.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Peace

“Observe well how the word ‘narcissism’ is often used into marriages. The victims are often those who have separated with their significant other, rather than being on good terms with them. Therefore, we must dig deeper to the core of the word and discover its true meaning. In return, we will get a glimpse of our mentality and the main attributes that drive us to label each other with that conflicted word.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Marriage

“The word 'enough' doesn’t exist inside our minds when it comes on achieving and receiving for our pleasure.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Pleasure

“There is a sound of humility in the word 'under-standing'. Meditate upon it, then lower yourself to truly understand.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Understanding

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Silence

“In business, it's about terminating a contract and in marriage it's called divorce. Just the same, but different wording.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Business, Marriage

“The definition of the word truth is that, you know what you know and what you don't know.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Truth

“When it comes to spirituality, words are unnecessary. They will always fail you. All you can do is to live the experience.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“Body and spirit have never blended.
Never in physical action have I ever found the chilling satisfaction of words.”

Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) Japanese author

[At the movie's ending, speaking to the soldiers]
Final address (1970)

“The only thing I can say is, I'm not someone who draws a very clear line. I'm actually a very forgiving person. Once the trust is broken, it's difficult for me to mend the trust. I'm also someone who really believes that action speaks louder than words.”

Rebecca Lim (1986) Singaporean actress

As quoted in "My conscience is clear: Rebecca Lim on 'misunderstanding' with ex-BFF Desmond Tan" in Asia One (28 October 2020) https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/my-conscience-clear-rebecca-lim-misunderstanding-ex-bff-desmond-tan

Drawing, Personality, Forgiveness

“In the elementary sense of the word, faith is our assent to a truth that transcends us; but spiritually speaking, it is our assent, not to transcendent concepts, but to immanent realities, or to Reality as such; now this Reality is our very substance.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2019, Esoterism as Principle and as Way, World Wisdom, 234, 978-1-93659765-9]
Spiritual life, Faith

Faith, Sense, Truth, Reality

“If faith is a mystery, it is because its nature is inexpressible in the measure that it is profound, for it is not possible to convey fully by words this vision which is still blind, and this blindness which already sees.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2013, From the Divine to the Human, World Wisdom, 97, 978-1-936597-32-1]
Spiritual life, Faith

Faith, Nature

“The word "interview" is written as taking material. If you come in contact with it like you want to take such material, it will be transmitted. So, instead of taking material, you are I think it's all about listening with the desire to know and listen to your story.”

Miri Yu (1968) Zainichi Korean writer

As quoted in "For those who have no place to live" A story spun by Miri Yu" in Teller Report (17 December 2020) https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2020-12-17-%0A---%22for-those-who-have-no-place-to-live%22-a-story-spun-by-miri-yu-%0A--.B1br_RudnD.html

Thinking

“Actions, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell characters.”

Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss poet

No. 637
Aphorisms on Man (1788)

“In other words, a record of our past is etched into our genes.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 2 “Species” (p. 35)

Past

“There is a true and a false science, a Divine and an Infernal Magic – in other words, one which is delusive and tenebrous.”

Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) French writer

Miscellaneous Quotes On the Subjects of Magic and Magicians
Source: Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magi Part I: The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic By Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant), Translated by A. E. Waite, England, Rider & Company, England, 1896, p. 3

Falseness, Science

“Words, in the final analysis, are just about as futile as actions, and much less fun.”

Robert Sheckley book The Alchemical Marriage of Alistair Crompton

Source: Crompton Divided (1978), Chapter 8 (p. 39)

“Love hath no need of words.”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Richelieu

Act I, Scene II
Richelieu (1839)

Love

“There's a communication that goes beyond the realm of words and we don't even need words to communicate, and when you do use words it just comes from our hearts, and we're offering entertainment.”

Art Evans (actor) (1942) American actor

Theater Master Art Evans! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_mg1nsTJRU (April 8, 2015)

Communication, Heart

“I can testify to the fertility of the Word among the small and the humble.”

Emmanuel Marie Philippe Louis Lafont (1945) Catholic bishop

Catholics should become ‘lovers of the Word,' bishops’ synod says https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/14021/catholics-should-become-lovers-of-the-word-bishops-synod-says (9 October 2008)

“While still living in the palace, Abba Arsenius prayed to God in these words, "Lord, lead me in the way of salvation." And a voice came saying to him, "Arsenius, flee from men and you will be saved."”

Arsenius the Great (354–449) Desert Father

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, as translated by Benedicta Ward, SLG (Cistercian Publications: 1975), Saying 1, Page 9

God, Way, Men

“The greatest lesson i have learnt from writing is that it doesn't matter what you write but your writing matters, your words need to be meaningful. Feel free to write your imagination and try to find the author hidden within you.”

Shabdon Ka Jahan

Imagination, Feeling

“When I fall Short of Words, My existence becomes speechless, searches for words passing here and there, in the hope that they may be found. When I ask someone to know about my words, it tells me the place of their mind, maybe some people are angry with me, who often do not mention me even once in their words.”

Shabdon Ka Jahan

Search, People, Hope

“Honestly, for me, acting is just a very spiritual thing where I’m just present with the words I read on the screen, and when it’s awful and it kind of makes your skin crawl, then that’s what comes up and that’s what I do.”

Penn Badgley (1986) American actor and musician

Source: "Penn Badgley weighs in on the worst thing his 'Gossip Girl' character ever did" in TODAY https://www.today.com/popculture/penn-badgley-worst-thing-dan-humphrey-did-gossip-girl-t235509 (22 October 2021)

Reading

“There are several different meanings of the words "religion" and "spirituality", all of which are important. The whole point about an integral or comprehensive approach is that it must find a way to believably include all of those important meanings in a coherent whole.”

Ken Wilber (1949) American writer and public speaker

Source: Which Level of God Do You Believe In? (2004)

Religion, Way

“Whenever the internal dialogue stops, the world collapses, and extraordinary facets of ourselves surface, as though they had been kept heavily guarded by our words.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

World

“A warrior considers himself already dead, so there is nothing for him to lose. The worst has already happened to him, therefore he's clear and calm; judging him by his acts or by his words, one would never suspect that he has witnessed everything.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

Dead

“Solace, haven, fear, all of these are words which have created moods that one has learned to accept without ever questioning their value.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

Question, Learning, Fear, Mood

“The money we raised was secondary. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended ... What we did show was that musicians and people are more humane than politicians.”

George Harrison (1943–2001) British musician, former member of the Beatles

Source: George Harrison, 1992 in Joshua M. Greene, Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison, John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken, NJ, 2006; ISBN 978-0-470-12780-3).

Money, War, People, Help

“Words have meaning, but not anymore. And when I hear 'transphobic,' 'phobic' has a meaning: Fear. I'm not transphobic if I merely disagree with you. It's not hate.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

New Rule: Andrew Yang & John McWhorter on Dave Chappelle and 'Transphobia' (2021)

Hate, Fear

“I'm still working, but we have to start by putting forward a diplomatic arrangement. This point obtained, we would have a good chance of success. For the moment, the Belgian shipping word in China should not be used at any price.”

Pierre Emmanuel Félix Chazal (1808–1892) Belgian politician (1808-1892)

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The Importance of General Chazal in Colonial Politics. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 Minister Chazal, who had little ambition in an almost impossible Chinese adventure, Confronting the French practicalities and the British stubbornness of that expedition was most likely the last thing on his mind. Even the experienced king had already given up all hope. The enthusiastic young Leopold did not give up and started to advise the minister himself. KMLKG, Papiers Chazal, 111/13, the Duke of Brabant to Chazal, October 4, 1859.

Chance, Success

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

Quotes related to the Belgian Colonial Empire Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The Importance of General Chazal in Colonial Politics. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 Minister Chazal, who had little ambition in an almost impossible Chinese adventure, Confronting the French practicalities and the British stubbornness of that expedition was most likely the last thing on his mind. Even the experienced king had already given up all hope. The enthusiastic young Leopold did not give up and started to advise the minister himself. KMLKG, Papiers Chazal, 111/13, the Duke of Brabant to Chazal, October 4, 1859.

Chance, Success

“Muhammad carried arms, helmets, and spears. He led a hundred horses, appointing Bahir to be in charge of the weapons and Maslamah to be in charge of the horses. When the Quraysh received word of this, it frightened them.”

Al-Tabari (839–923) influential Persian scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an

Source: Al-Tabari, Vol. 8, p. 138

Horse

“I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken.”

Al-Tabari (839–923) influential Persian scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an

Source: The History of Al-Tabari, Volume VI, p. 111. ( al-Tabari's History of the Prophets and Kings)

God

“Fundamentalism is not accidental but essential to Islam… It sees unchangeability as strength. That is why the word reform is so abhorrent to Muslim thinkers and religious leaders ...”

K. S. Lal book Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India

Source: Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India (1999)

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Jesus (-7–30 BC) Jewish preacher and religious leader, central figure of Christianity

Mark 13:31, NWT
New Testament, The Gospel of Mark

“It's the word I dislike, not the food. Give me a piece of bread and butter and I'll enjoy it. Now tell me it's margarine and I'll throw up.”

Edward G. Robinson (1893–1973) Romanian American actor

Source: Op. cit., p. 280

Food

“Prove your words by your deeds.”

Seneca the Younger book Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XX: On practicing what you preach

“Blind faith is just another word for slavery.”

Genevieve Cogman (1972) novelist and game designer

Source: The Burning Page (2016), Chapter 25 (p. 338)

Faith

“Now, as the Word of God is the Son of God, so the love of God is the Holy Spirit.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church

Sermon on the Apostles' Creed (c. 1273), Art. 8

God, Love

“Protip: any time someone uses the word “xenophobia”, you’re in for a hefty dose of dumbassery.”

Steven Crowder (1987) American actor

to be sorted

Time

“As though adding the word democratic in front of a word changes what it means.”

Steven Crowder (1987) American actor

Source: https://www.prageru.com/video/democratic-socialism-is-still-socialism/

Change

“One of the missions of the underground priests was to encourage these people and to tell them that yes, we're suffering, but we're doing this for Christ. That's why the Church survived; people were humans, in all the best sense of the word.”

Volodymyr Viytyshyn (1959) Polish archbishop

Source: In becoming a priest, you were agreeing to be a martyr https://osvnews.com/2018/08/15/underground-period-marks-ukrainian-church/ (15 August 2018)

People, Suffering, Christ, Sense

“Freedom? The word tastes bitter. What’s freedom ever done for me? Seems to me I’ve been free almost all my life, but what has it gotten me? Really?”

Charles Stross Saturn's Children

Source: Saturn's Children (2008), Chapter 15, “”Revising My Opinions” (pp. 253-254)
Context: She’s silent for only a moment. “Ask not what it’s gotten you, kid. Ask what it’s saved you from.”

Freedom, Life

“Whatever possibilities and potentialities are latent today, the fact remains that the last word and the final decision will rest with us — the people.”

Vera Stanley Alder (1898–1984) British artist

Source: Humanity Comes of Age, A study of Individual and World Fulfillment (1950), Chapter I, Secrets Behind History

People, Decision

“I like to play with words. In English, there's only one or two ways to say something; in Chinese there are 30 ways.”

Geling Yan (1958) Chinese writer and screenwriter

Source: "Turning Loss into Beauty: The Tragedies of Geling Yan" in The Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB930264290705115630 (25 June 1999)

Way

“Word inflation is a problem. You can try to change reality by changing the words, but you can’t. It just stops you from dealing with it. One of the bad guys in Nineteen Eighty-Foursays, ‘The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought.’ It’s Orwellian, and Orwell never ends well.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Source: Sen. Chris Coons and Caitlin Flanagan, Natural Immunity, (2021)

Change, Problem, Reality, Guy

“Does the word "shyster" mean anything to you?”

Judith Sheindlin (1942) American lawyer, judge, television personality, and author

Quotes From Judge Judy Cases, Being Cocky
Context: To a law student

“This is the real enemy, the invader from the East, the Druze, the ruffian, the oriental parasite; in a word: the Jew.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

London Morning Post, December 3, 1925
1900s

“I like words more than numbers, and I always did.”

Paul R. Halmos (1916–2006) American mathematician

Source: I Want to be a Mathematician: An Automathography (1985)

“Words, sentences, ideas, no matter how subtle or ingenious, the maddest flights of poetry, the most profound dreams, the most hallucinating visions, are but crude hieroglyphs chiseled in pain and sorrow to commemorate an event which is untransmissible.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Source: Henry Miller on Writing (1964), p. 23

Pain, Idea, Dreams

“Regions Caesar never knew
Thy posterity shall sway;
Where his eagles never flew,
None invincible as they.
Such the bard's prophetic words,
Pregnant with celestial fire,
Bending as he swept the chords
Of his sweet but awful lyre.”

William Cowper (1731–1800) (1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist

Source: "Boadicea" (1782)

“I would love to write more children’s books. I think children can understand complex things so long as you explain them in words they can wrap themselves around.”

Padma Lakshmi (1970) Indian-born American author, actress, model, television host and executive producer

Source: "What I’ve Learned: Padma Lakshmi" in Esquire https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a37862708/padma-lakshmi-what-ive-learned-interview-2021/ (2 November 2021)

Children, Books, Understanding, Thinking

“It’s beyond words, there’s no such thing.”

China Miéville Embassytown

Source: Embassytown (2011), Chapter 0.3 (p. 29)

“And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart,
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.
So, don’t give up on love
when it seems that all is lost,
for there is always hope
if we’re prepared to pay the cost”

Alexis Karpouzos (1967)

Source: https://twitter.com/AKarpouzos/status/1467166433176084481

Country, Hope, Heart, Love

“People always love expressing themselves, and they often pretend to be modest in their words, saying that they are no good at this or that. This is particularly common among friends. But even if people are actually modest, there is no benefit to their behavior.”

Bo Xilai (1949) former Politburo member of the Communist Party of China

Source: Excerpts of letter to his first wife (14 July 1975)

People, Love, Behavior

“I believe there is power in the words that we say, and our words have enough creative power such that what we say and believe in our minds & hearts shape our reality.”

Yemi Adamolekun Executive Director of Enough is Enough

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/10/nigeria-61-eie-11-light-hope-power-and-voice-opinion/ Speaking about Nigeria (October 18 2021 )

Heart, Reality

“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred”

Halyna Hutchins (1979–2021) Ukrainian-American cinematographer and investigative journalist

Source: 22 October 2021 https://twitter.com/AlecBaldwin/status/1451572461787439106 by Alec Baldwin the day after Alec killed her with a firearm

Sadness, Life

“I don't recognise such terms as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and I think it's important that there's someone in pop music who's like that. These words do a great deal of damage, they confuse people and they make people feel unhappy, so I want to do away with them.”

Morrissey (1959) English singer

Source: [239, The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance, and Musical Theater, Claude Summers, Cleis Press Start, 1 November 2004, 9781573448758] In interviews etc., Sexuality

People, Music, Thinking, Feeling

“I am pleased to announce that I've decided to go net-zero on swear words and bad language. In the event that I should say something inappropriate I pledge to compensate that by saying something nice. #COP26,”

Greta Thunberg (2003) Swedish climate change activist

Source: Greta Thunberg says she's going 'net-zero' on cussing after COP26 sing-along, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/03/uk/greta-thunberg-net-zero-swearing-cop26-intl-scli-gbr/index.html, November 3, 2021

“Those who are not bettered by kind treatment, or moved by soft words, must be brought under by the application of stern and rigorous punishment.”

Mateo Alemán book Guzmán de Alfarache

Pt. I, Lib. III, Ch. IX.
Guzmán de Alfarache (1599-1604)

“Those who translate Pistis by "Faith," are utterly wrong. The word "faith" as grace or something to be believed in through unreasoned or blind faith, is a word that dates only since Christianity.”

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky book The Key to Theosophy

Source: The Key to Theosophy (1889)

Faith

“The purpose of this book is exactly expressed in its title, “The Key to Theosophy,” and needs but few words of explanation. It is not a complete or exhaustive text-book of Theosophy, but only a key to unlock the door that leads to the deeper study.”

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky book The Key to Theosophy

Source: The Key to Theosophy (1889)

Study, Books

“the words have come and gone,
I sit ill.
the phone rings, the cats sleep.
Linda vacuums.
I am waiting to live,
waiting to die.
I wish I could ring in some bravery.
it's a lousy fix”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories (1996), Lines from "So now?" - p.402 (circa 1994. He died in March 1994, aged 73.)

Sleep, Cats, Waiting

“Disagreement is not oppression. Argument is not assault. Words – even provocative or repugnant ones – are not violence. The answer to speech we do not like is more speech.”

Douglas Murray (1979) British political commentator and far-right activist

Source: The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity (2019)

“I think the greatest oxymoron on the face of this earth is to use the word 'science' along with 'evolution.'”

Ray Comfort (1949) New Zealand-born Christian minister and evangelist

Evolution's a fairy tale for grown ups... It's unprovable, it's not been proved.
Source: AronRa vs Ray Comfort (September 17th, 2012), Radio Paul's Radio Rants

Thinking, Science

“You used the word ‘civilization,’ which means a set of abstractions, symbols, conventions. Experience tends to be vicarious; emotions are predigested and electrical; ideas become more real than things.”

Jack Vance book The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 4 (p. 48)

Idea

“Mystery is a word with no objective pertinence, merely describing the limitations of a mind. In fact, a mind may be classified by the order of the phenomena it considers mysterious.… The mystery is resolved, the solution made known. “Of course, it is obvious!” comes the chorus. A word about the obvious: it is always obvious.… The common mind transposed the sequence, letting the mystery generate the solution. This is logic in reverse; actually the mystery relates to the solution as the foam relates to the beer.…”

Jack Vance book The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph

The Unspeakable McInch (p. 39; all ellipses in the original)
Short fiction, The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph (1966)

Beer

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

book Bible

Source: John 6:63, NAS

Life

“Feel your hair come tumbling down
Feel your feet start kissing the ground
Feel your arms are opening out
And see your eyes are lifted to God
With no words, with no song
I'm gonna dance the dream
And make the dream come true...”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

Source: Song lyrics, The Red Shoes (1993)

God, Dreams, Kiss, Dance

“Despite common belief, the goblin language did include a word for trust. It was derived from the word for trustworthy, which in the goblin tongue, was the same as the word for dead.”

Jim C. Hines (1974) American writer

Source: The Goblin Quest Series, Goblin Hero (2007), Chapter 1 (pp. 19-20)

Dead

“Many have a way with words. They label themselves seers but they will not see. Many have the gift of tongue but nothing to say. Do not listen to them. Many who have words and tongue have no ear, they cannot listen and they will not hear.”

Gloria E. Anzaldúa Speaking in Tongues

"Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women Writers" (1981)
Source: in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, p. 171

Way

“By using the word "dialogue" I hope to be able to believe that the other has something worthwhile to say. Engaging in dialogue does not mean renouncing our own ideas and traditions but rather, renouncing the claim that they alone are valid or absolute.”

Paul Donoghue (1949) Roman Catholic bishop

Source: New Year, New Resolution https://www.cookislandsnews.com/opinion/editorials/new-year-new-resolution/ (7 January 2022)

Idea, Hope

“Now a bit of praise isn't much to give,
But it's dear to the hearts of all who live;
And there's never a man on this good old earth
But is glad to be told that he's been of worth;
And a kindly word when the work is fair
Is welcomed and wanted everywhere.”

Edgar Guest (1881–1959) American writer

If I Were a Boss, third stanza.
Source: The Passing Throng (1923)

Heart

“From the looks you're giving me
I can tell, as well see
if I've done something you think's wrong:
no words need be conveyed.
Then again, when we embrace,
from the look that's on your face
if heaven is a place on earth
right here is where it's been.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"No Way" (song) Song lyrics Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "No Way" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5mPUlZ4vRE (song on YouTube)

Thinking

“Once I was hailed as a prodigal son.
In other words, loved by everyone.
Now it's so different:
wherever I go, nobody wants to know.
Tried having meetings. Running about.
Same as I did when I started out.
Now though, it's different:
wherever I go, nobody wants to know.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Nobody Wants To Know" (song) Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Nobody Wants To Know" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDTLHMsG2g (song on YouTube) Song lyrics

Love

“Follow the path of the saints, they left their comfort zones to serve the people of God, sharing with them the Word of God which heals and gives life.”

Filipe Neri Ferrão (1953) seventh Roman Catholic Patriarch of the East Indies

Source: Biblical Year in Goa, impetus for Christian proclamation and mission http://fides.org/en/news/69135-ASIA_INDIA_Biblical_Year_in_Goa_impetus_for_Christian_proclamation_and_mission (30 November 2020)

God, People, Life

“The knowledge we get by tinkering, via trial and error, experience, and the workings of time, in other words, contact with the earth, is vastly superior to that obtained through reasoning, something self-serving institutions have been very busy hiding from us.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb book Skin in the Game

Source: Skin in the Game (2018), p. 7

Time, Business, Error, Knowledge

“Clair, the moment I met you
I swear, I felt as if something somewhere
had happened to me
which I couldn't see
And then, the moment I met you again,
I knew in my heart that we were friends,
it had to be so
it couldn't be no
But try as hard as I might do, I don't know why
you get to me in a way I can't describe.
Words mean so little when you look up and smile.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Clair" (song) (+ Live performance in Japan, 1993. On YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpdBX-u1dv8 Song lyrics Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Clair" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmeZaAry830 (song on YouTube.))

Smile, Heart, Way

“I must get out on the trails once more that wind through shadowy haunts and cool,
Away from the presence of wall and door, and see myself in a crystal pool;
I must get out with the silent things, where neither laughter nor hate is heard,
Where malice never the humblest stings and no one is hurt by a spoken word.”

Edgar Guest (1881–1959) American writer

Source: All That Matters (1922), p.11 - The Call, stanza 2.

Hurt, Hate, Laughter

“How much grit do you think you've got?
Can you quit a thing that you like a lot?
You may talk of pluck; it's an easy word,
And where'er you go it is often heard;
But can you tell to a jot or guess
Just how much courage you now possess?You may stand to trouble and keep your grin,
But have you tackled self-discipline?
Have you ever issued commands to you
To quit the things that you like to do,
And then, when tempted and sorely swayed,
Those rigid orders have you obeyed?Don't boast of your grit till you've tried it out,
Nor prate to men of your courage stout,
For it's easy enough to retain a grin
In the face of a fight there's a chance to win,
But the sort of grit that is good to own
Is the stuff you need when you're all alone.How much grit do you think you've got?
Can you turn from joys that you like a lot?
Have you ever tested yourself to know
How far with yourself your will can go?
If you want to know if you have grit,
Just pick out a joy that you like, and quit.It's bully sport and it's open fight;
It will keep you busy both day and night;
For the toughest kind of a game you'll find
Is to make your body obey your mind.
And you never will know what is meant by grit
Unless there's something you've tried to quit.”

Edgar Guest (1881–1959) American writer

Source: Just Folks (1917), On Quitting

Night, Men, Game, Courage

Quotes about wording page 93

Quotes about wording
page 93