QuoteProject
Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts.
Robert Fulghum
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Physical harm can heal, but emotional pain from words can last longer.

This quote emphasizes the power of words and their potential impact on our emotional well-being. While physical injuries caused by sticks and stones may heal over time, the hurt inflicted by unkind or damaging words can linger, shaping our feelings and relationships in profound ways.

Themes

WordsEmotionsHurtRelationshipsCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about kindness, one might say, 'Remember, sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts.'

More from Robert Fulghum

Solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude is a solitary boat floating in a sea of possible companions.
Robert FulghumRead
If dandelions were rare and fragile, people would knock themselves out to pay $14.95 a plant, raise them by hand in greenhouses, and form dandelion societies and all that. But, they are everywhere and don't need us and kind of do what they please. So we call them weeds and murder them at every opportunity
Robert FulghumRead
We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness β€” and call it love β€” true love.
Robert FulghumRead
Peace is not something you wish for, it's something you make
Robert FulghumRead
Doing a straight-forward, clear-cut task that has a beginning and an end balances out the complexity-without-end that often vexes the rest of my life. Sacred simplicity.
Robert FulghumRead
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
Robert FulghumRead

Similar quotes

Gracias, danke, merci - whatever language is spoken, "thank you" frequently expressed will cheer your spirit, broaden your friendships, and lift your lives to a higher pathway as you journey toward perfection. There is a simplicity - even a sincerity - when "thank you" is spoken.
Thomas S. MonsonRead
It turns out that people who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, they're physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected.
Robert J. WaldingerRead
Dammit Sir, it's your duty to get married. You can't always be living for pleasure!
Oscar WildeRead
In all our contacts it is probably the sense of being really needed and wanted which gives us the greatest satisfaction and creates the most lasting bond.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
If you want others to like you, if you want to develop real friendships, if you want to help others at the same time as you help yourself, keep this principle in mind: Become genuinely interested in other people.
Dale CarnegieRead
I'm definitely drawn to stories about outsiders. Feeling like that myself as a gay black man, I often seek to give a voice to those in the world who don't have one.
Roger Ross WilliamsRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.