Words have a tremendous lasting power to heal or hurt. No one knew this better than Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). who won a Nobel Prize for literature.
Hemingway, who was famous for his great stories, was also known for being a big party guy. The story goes that Hemingway was lunching with his drinking buddies at his favorite hangout at the New York City Algonquin Hotel, and made a bet. He bet his friends ten dollars each that he could write an entire story in six words. He wrote on a napkin, and passed the napkin around the table to each of his buddies. They each willingly gave him ten dollars. He wrote: "For sale: baby shoes never worn."
It doesn't matter whether this tale is true or just an urban legend about Hemingway. Those six words illustrate how powerful words can be.
Children learn "sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never harm me." Sadly, this is not true. Hurtful words can impact the emotional and physical health of the recipient.
Randi Gunther writes how negative comments not only cause emotional pain but activate the same part of the brain as physical pain. Gunther explains that hostile remarks fall into six general categories: character assassinations, threats of abandonment, threats of exile, invalidation, challenges and preaching. (Randy Gunther, Psychology Today, "Hostile Venting: Mean Phrases that Scar Intimate Relationships," March 25, 2013).
While hurtful words have a lasting quality, positive words impact us, too. Some of the following power quotes have endured and comforted for thousands of years.
- "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." - Confucius
- "There is always something about your success that displeases even your best friends." - Mark Twain
- "Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up." - Pearl S. Buck
- "The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer someone else." - Mark Twain
- "If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." - Will Rogers
- "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." - Confucius
- "The secret in getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain
- "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers
- "If you light a lamp for someone, it will lighten your path." - Buddha
- "Do one thing every day that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt
- "Everyone is like the moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody else." - Mark Twain
- "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." - Will Rogers
- "The greatest gift you can give a child is imagination." - Eleanor Roosevelt
- "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Confucius
- "Great minds talk about ideas, small minds talk about people." - Eleanor Roosevelt
- "Do the best you can, and don't take life too serious." - Will Rogers
- "The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask, is a fool for life." - Confucius
- "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." - Buddha
- "The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places." - Will Rogers
- "Roads were made for journeys not destinations." - Confucius
Lao Tzu, a legendary Chinese philosopher born in 601 B.C., wrote that silence is a source of great strength. Through the centuries, to present times to Thumper the rabbit in the Bambi book and film, who said his mother taught him, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
And that's all, folks.
(Dr. Donna Pinter is the founder and director of Psychological Services, of Bloomsburg, Danville and Sunbury. "Slice of Life" appears on this page the first Sunday of every month.)