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Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.
Aldous Huxley
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Words have the power to deeply impact and influence when used thoughtfully.

Aldous Huxley suggests that words possess a profound capability to penetrate the barriers of understanding and perception. When articulated effectively, they can reveal truths and evoke emotions in listeners, much like an X-ray unveils what is hidden beneath the surface. This underscores the importance of communication and the responsibility that comes with it.

Themes

WordsCommunicationImpactTruthInfluence

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the impact of literature, one could cite Huxley's quote to emphasize how words can reveal deep truths.

More from Aldous Huxley

To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
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Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
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In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
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On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
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No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
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The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
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