Russell Banks - March 28, 1940
I have long conversations with myself pretty frequently. I’d say that a reoccurring conversation concerns how I treat other people.
What I say to them, how I respond to their requests from me, what I think of them…you know… things along those lines.
I feel pretty guilty most of the time about what I say to people. I feel that I don’t wait long enough for the thoughts I think to be fully processed and weighed, before they slip from my mouth and to the ears of the recipient. It’s a vicious cycle because after I say the words, the guilt creeps up on me almost immediately – or at least within an hour – time enough for me to review the conversation.
Words can hurt and sometimes I fail to recognize their power.
There have been several times in my life where I have uttered a word - a sentence and wished that I could suck the words back into my mouth.
That’s impossible though. Once they are out – it’s too late.
You can do all the back pedaling and apologizing and attempt to cover your verbal tracks – but nope, it’s too late.
The person who had your words thrown at them could possibly now hold quite a different opinion of you…and it’s doubtful that anything you do will ever change this newly formed opinion.
Do words kill as the narrator in this story felt they could?
Yes -
Just as actions can lead to a series of events – unintended events – the words you speak can carry through time and space causing ripples in the world that you never thought imaginable.
nice comment. nice site.
ReplyDelete(here's a little contribution: an old story that the Buddha gave his disciples each a pile of feathers and asked them to distribute the feathers across the countryside, then return to him when finished. When they had all come back, he said, "OK, now go and pick them all up." Of course, the disciples were aghast and said "It's impossible to get them back!" And Buddha replied, "Yes. And so it is with the spoken word."