The Power of Words, part 2

Have you watched the video I posted the other day about the power of words? I came across it while I was preparing a lesson for my kids on the subject. As I pondered the topic for two or three weeks, I also came across several quotes that made their way into my lesson. I'm a collector of quotes and these are some pretty good ones. I'm posting them here because they are worth sharing. Enjoy!

It doesn’t matter if you and everyone else

in the room are thinking it. You don’t say

the words. Words are weapons.  –Richard Kadrey

Three things in human life are important.

The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind.

And the third is to be kind.  –Henry James

If you judge people,

you have no time to love them. –Mother Teresa

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be

and you help them to become what they

are capable of being –Goethe

What do we live for if not to make life

less difficult for each other? –George Eliot

When we attack people with whom we disagree,

we injure or even end our ability to resolve disputes.

Each time we raise the temperature in the discourse

it is harder to reconcile differences. We raise

a barrier of hate and anger. –Constance Lundburg

Now, to avoid offense, we must be serious about neither giving it nor taking it. We will always have to deal with thoughtless people. Sometimes our own lack of experience makes us insensitive when we would intend to be otherwise. Some days are so busy, and because we’re tired or in a hurry, we speak before we think. Unquestionably, opportunities to give and take offense are plentiful. I suggest, however, that you never intentionally litter the lives of your associates with offenses. And don’t pick up an offense when others drop it. This is your mother speaking: Don’t pick it up! –Elaine L. Jack

I read in a book once that a rose

by any other name would smell as sweet,

but I’ve never been able to believe it.

I don’t believe a rose WOULD be as nice

if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.

–L.M. Montgomery

Let us look for the good rather than try to discover

any hidden evil. We can easily find fault in others

if that is what we are looking for…

Let us remember, too, that the further out of line

or out of tune we ourselves are, the more we are inclined

to look for error or weakness in others

and to try to rationalize and justify our own faults

rather than to try to improve ourselves. –N. Eldon Tanner

To a considerable extent, people act as we expect them to act. If we expect the worst from people, we are likely to get it. If we are always criticizing, emphasizing weakness, and looking for others’ faults and dwelling on them, we may give them the impression that we expect them to behave in the very manner we criticize; we thus encourage the negative behavior that we are always emphasizing. The principle of the self-fulfilling prophecy is suggested in the words of Elder Tanner: ‘If we will always look for the best in others, in our friends, in our neighbors, in our wife, in our husband, in our children, they will turn out to be the most wonderful people in the world. On the other hand, if we are looking for their weaknesses and faults and enlarge upon them, these same people may become even despicable.’ –Kenneth L. Higbee

Words are like eggs dropped from great heights;

you can no more call them back than ignore

the mess they leave when they fall. –Jodi Picoult

The best and most clear indicator

that we are progressing spiritually

and coming unto Christ

is the way we treat other people.

–Marvin J. Ashton

Many of us have been hurt by being called names, and we have hurt others by using unkind or unwise words. As children we heard, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” We all know this is false, especially those among us who have been called names when we were young, who were told we were stupid or ugly or always doing dumb things. Often the damage done by words is worse than damage done by physical violence. In reality we should handle our words as carefully as we would handle a gun, because both can have devastating effects and bring about long-lasting pain to others and to ourselves. –Melvin J. Luthy

          Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.

          None of us need one more person bashing or pointing out where we have failed or fallen short. Most of us are already well aware of the areas in which we are weak. What each of us does need is family, friends, employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we're trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weaknesses. What ever happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt? What ever happened to hoping that another person would succeed or achieve? What ever happened to rooting for each other? –Marvin J. Ashton

I think the last one is my favorite. Food for thought!