Saturday, April 05, 2008

Words - The Two-Edged Swords

Words are like beads that drop out of the necklace of thoughts. They are placed in the carvings on the golden pages of time. And you have a ‘stone-studded life’! Words are an expression of your thoughts, emotions, feelings, views, ideas and what not. They are a concrete manifestation of abstract ideas. It is an art to use the right word at the right place. Words are not just letters put together. They carry a world with themselves; you never know what effect a particular word will have in a particular situation. Even a single word can work wonders for you. As George Bernard Shaw has rightly put it, “Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap”. Words can join two hearts or they can break one into two. Words can help you to make people laugh or they can make so deep a wound that even a lifetime won’t be able heal it. Words are the bridges, but if misused they can themselves act as barriers.
Another important quality is using the right quantity of words – don’t waste them you might need them later and don’t be a miser either. If you won’t say it out people won’t see it. There are very few who can understand your silence. But at the same time don’t over use them, nobody has the time. Try to inculcate as much as you can in as less as possible. Remember Shakespeare said, “When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain”. So make the most of what you have in hand, howsoever less it is.
We have often heard, ‘Pen is mightier than sword’. But you have to have that fire in your words to turn them into swords. Otherwise, they will only fall on deaf ears. A word is a two-edged sword, if you won’t use it in the most effective way; they will be lost in the humdrum of the world gone astray.
Watch your words, or you might have to chew them later, much to your embarrassment and to everyone else’s amusement. Also remember, say it before it is too late. Expression is what makes the words a living entity – it is the meanings which they carry otherwise they will be as lifeless as stones.


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Author: Amritbir Kaur)

3 comments:

The English Wench said...

Have a look at Emily Dickiknson's little poem "There is a word/ that bears a sword." Using a military metaphor set, the speaker discusses the power of an ill-spoken word.

www.paisleyandplaid.wordpress.com
I have some pieces you might like here. Check out Robert Browning's "Confessions" post.

J. C. said...

Wow, what an inspiring text. I truly enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

Nick Grimshawe said...

What beautiful words to talk about a subject on words. I loved ever word.

Nick