Words are Power - But only if you Have Something to Say

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4 years ago (Last updated: 3 years ago)

Words can both clarify and confuse, both reveal the truth and blot it out.

Clear words should be like diamonds: carry weight while not being unduly voluminous; reflect enlightenment through every facet; and, if made sharp, cut with surgical precision through any material.

Deceptive words, however, can knit a web of obscurity so tight that what dwells behind them remains a mystery forever.

Words carry power, more than anything else. Swedish author, playwright, painter, and universalist August Strindberg wrote: "You have the power, I have the word, I have the word in my power." These words were laid in the mouth of Loki, but Strindberg himself had a long-time quarrel with the Swedish king, a situation that made him choose a long exile. His weapon was the pen. Today, when both Strindberg and king Oscar II are dead since more than a century, who do you think was the most powerful of them? Strindberg's words carry as much weight as ever, while there is no residual influence at all from king Oscar.

Political power is momentaneous, it lasts one or two breaths of history, then it is gone. Written words remain, and their influence sometimes spans millennia. What is the power of emperors or kings, compared to that of the words of Plato or Confucius, or of books as the Vedas, the Qur'an, or the Bible?

As leaves in the wind compared to blocks of stone.

If you want power and influence, do not go for politics, where you will just be the already mentioned leaf in the wind. Go for writing; learn to express yourself in clear prose. There dwells the real power. But good writing is not all; there is one thing that is even more important: you must have something substantial to say. That requires clear thinking, unfortunately a very rare commodity.

As T.S. Eliot said: "Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers."

Why the failure?

They have nothing to say, no substance in their writing - or in their thinking! It would be hard not to agree with what George Eliot wrote in “Impressions of Theophrastus Such”: "Blessed is the man who having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact."

(This text is a re-edited extract from a longer article previously published in Meriondho Leo.) Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.

You find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic, here.

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4 years ago (Last updated: 3 years ago)

Comments

I agree with you on it, Mictorrani. Great writing!

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4 years ago

I believe too that personal words are much more powerful than political action. We have to express ourselves with influential deeds while avoiding deception every time.

That's considerable.

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4 years ago

If I understood you right here, you touch another aspect of this: that one should practise what one preaches. Words and action should be one. To be a good example is also a powerful way to influence people. Not instantly, but over time. Just act consistently and firmly to principle, and it will, indeed, be absorbed by the environment little by little.

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4 years ago

In fact, you are right. Clearly written works will remain forever, dominating as a form of residual power, even after many millennia.

As you stated recently, "words and actions should be one". This serves a good way of influencing people over time.

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4 years ago

Although I don't know if my writing has substance but that's what I am trying to do my best. I also believe Writing is an art but like you said, it should have substance. I don't know how to asses my writing but I hope I did write with substance, I want my readers to learn something with what I write. Something that can leave impact on their minds.

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3 years ago

I have just read 10 or so of your articles. Most of the topics don't feel so relevant for me, but that is a matter of personal preference and not a qualitative point; however, they definitely have substance. You write well.

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3 years ago

Thank you so much, since I am writing based on the scope only of my learnings and experiences. Thank you for your time reading and assessing my writing.

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3 years ago

I must admit that I have not (yet) read many enough of your posts to have an honest opinion, but you seem to have the right approach, so I suspect your writings have substance.

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3 years ago

Haha it's okay, we cannot read everything in here as we have limited time spent here. Thanks for your kind words even if you didn't read my writings yet, actually you are one of those users I look up to in here. Thanks for your reply.

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3 years ago