The Power of Words

The power of words is tremendous. Although many people say that pictures are worth more (which is sometimes true), we shouldn’t forget that the words that come out of our mouths carry a lot of weight. The smallest, most insignificant words can cause a lot of damage, depending on the circumstances.

There’s a popular saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” However, words can be just as powerful. Within a single word there can be many messages, and they can even have devastating effects.

We’ll now examine more closely the many ways that we use the power of words, whether it involves hurting someone, making someone happy, or simply getting something we want from someone.

The power of hurtful words

Words are so strong that you don’t need to use very many to induce profound happiness or deep sadness in someone. All you have to do is say something that validates a negative emotion or attacks the other person’s weakest points.

We all know toxic, manipulative people who are able to use words to get what they want from us, even if we don’t want them to. We’ve all said things full of anger, resentment, pain, rejection, and sadness.

Whether we like it or not, words are the most common method of communication that humans use. And they involve a type of exchange that leaves a mark on us. Can you remember a time when they caused you terrible pain, or when they made your day?

The power of loving words

Words are not only powerful when they aim to hurt. They also serve to describe feelings like pleasure, kindness, love, and gratefulness.

In fact, we’ve used some of the most beautiful words in the world to talk about things we like, such as beauty, friendship, solidarity, or the many charming things that surround us.

What would love be without words? Is there anything more beautiful than telling the person you love how you feel about them and how much they mean to you?

It’s clear that words are enormously powerful when talking about everything that’s good and beautiful in life, and that’s one of the best ways they can be used.

The power of empty words

There are also people who are capable of speaking without saying anything. Some people talk for a considerable period of time without the listener being able to make any clear conclusions about what they’re saying.

When people like this are in positions of power, the general community usually feels a mixture of anger, sadness, and powerlessness. They feel anger because the person in power has a duty to make sense of their actions and proposals. They feel sadness because they are part of the society that put them in office. And they feel powerless because despite their efforts, they’re unable to engage in open communication.

The power of deceitful words

Finally, I’d like to address the power of words in their huge capacity to transmit lies, to capture the attention of the listener and make them believe something that’s not actually true.

Even though no one has explicitly told us, we’re all aware that lies have a much more faithful accomplice in written or spoken language than in sign language, for example.

It’s a shame that linguistic richness is often used to insult, lie, discriminate, or falsify. None of the words on our planet deserve to be used in such a way.

Words have an enormous power. They can be a source of beauty, poetry, creation, love, life, food for the soul, positivity… But like everything in this world, there’s a dark side that twists, oppresses, and strangles them.

Unfortunately, each day more voices try to make their messages heard above the rest, elevating the tone or the gravity of their actions with language to support it. They attack others, thinking that the validity of their message gives them enough moral shelter to be prejudiced against their opponents or to remain indifferent to them.

The responsibility of exercising and enjoying the power of words lies with us. It’s up to us whether we use them to create, construct, share, and embrace, instead of using them to attack or destroy. We can both utilize this power, and censor it.