We move but our words stand become responsible for more than we intended and this is verbal privilege
Interpretation
Our words have a lasting impact and carry responsibilities beyond our intentions.
This quote by Adrienne Rich emphasizes the idea that while we may change and evolve, the words we speak have a permanence that can outlast our intentions. It highlights the concept of 'verbal privilege,' suggesting that people should be mindful of the power of their words, as they can shape perceptions and realities for others, often in ways we do not foresee.
In practice
Using this quote during a public speaking event to highlight the importance of mindful language.
My children cause me the most exquisite suffering of which I have any experience. It is the suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alternation between bitter resentment and raw-edged nerves, and blissful gratification and tenderness. Sometimes I seem to myself, in my feelings toward these tiny guiltless beings, a monster of selfishness and intolerance.
The word revolution itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the revolution of a wheel which returns in the end to the same place; the revolving door of a politics which has liberated women only to use them, and only within the limits of male tolerance.
A president cannot meaningfully honor certain token artists while the people at large are so dishonored.'β
There is no 'the truth','a truth' - truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing complexity. the pattern of the carpet is a surface. When we look closely, or when we become weavers, we learn of the tiny multiple threads unseen in the overall pattern, the knots on the underside of the carpet
It is the suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alternation between bitter resentment and raw-edged nerves, and blissful gratification and tenderness
It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'
I've found that good dialogue tells you not only what people are saying or how they're communicating but it tells you a great deal - by dialect and tone, content and circumstance - about the quality of the character.
To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.
So if you aspire to be a good conversationali st, be an attentive listener.
To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.
Words are such uncertain things, they so often sound well but mean the opposite of what one thinks they do.
A speech is something you say so as to distract attention from what you do not say.
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