Oh, he was just angry, we tell ourselves when someone blurts out something he later apologizes for. But a word, once spoken, lingers forever; to keep peace we pretend to forget, but we never do. Strange that a spoken word can have such lasting power when words carved on stone monuments vanish in spite of all our efforts to preserve them. What we would lose persists, lodged in our minds, and what we would keep is lost to water, moths, moss.
Interpretation
Spoken words can have lasting effects, often more than physical inscriptions, impacting our memories and relationships.
This quote emphasizes the profound impact that spoken words can have on individuals and relationships. While we might try to brush aside hurtful comments by attributing them to anger or temporary emotions, the reality is that such words leave a lasting impression on our minds. In contrast, physical representations of words, like those on monuments, often fade and disappear over time. The quote poignantly highlights the idea that while we might strive to preserve certain memories or words, it is often the painful or damaging words that remain etched in our minds.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a workshop on effective communication to highlight how words can affect people.
Now I felt the long-forgotten urgency of lovemaking, when it seems one's human selves leave, to be replaced by hungry beasts bolting their food. Gone are the civilized beings who talk of manners and journeys and letters; in their places are two bodies straining to give birth to a burst of inhuman pleasure followed by a great, floating nothingness. An explosion of life followed by death - in this we live, and in this we foreshadow our own sweet deaths.
Judicial judgment must take deep account of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.
And indeed there will be time to wonder, 'Do I dare?', and 'Do I dare?
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours.
Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people who carry restlessness around with them.
A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.
Always remember, joy is not incidental to spiritual quest. It is vital.
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