September 29, 2003
-
Socrates said, "The misuse of language induces evil in the soul." He wasn’t talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth.
A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Comments (25)
That second paragraph especially blows me away...I love it.
beautifully stated...
wow, that is impressive. very thought provoking!
random site looking - props for you!
woww .. what a pretty xanqa you have! and such beautiful words! =] i`m just randomly proppinq .. have a nice dayy!
Hmmm between your post today and mine yesterday I'm guessing something is up with Mercury.
very very true...and if you think about it, politicians are salesmen themselves...
Coo...I like that idea...
- MTL
LeGuin was a very wise person.
Awesome. Truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing!
as the saying goes, the pen is mighter than the sword.
only bad advertising "misuses language" for nothing more than profit. same goes for politicians.
the media does a real good job of portraying advertising as "evil." its supposed to be a high form of communication that most people are horrible at.... and politicians in other countries arent like the ones here.... i think its more complex than to simply judge them as bad. i dont know much about politics but i know about advertising.
Check out the Xanga Contest for Men 2003
We're still accepting nominations for a short time
voting begins in 2 days..
language in itself is complex...the medium is the message (in this case anyway)! but hey. I'll have to agree with the gist of what she says, except that if you only used language for what she wants us to, we'd all be rather quiet.
beautiful.
do you ever stop changing your skin, kid?
reminded me of another quote-- from Don Miguel Ruiz-- "The word is not just a sound or a written symbol. The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think, and thereby to create the events in your life..."
The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
~W. Somerset Maugham
I love reading beautiful writing.
Without writers, I doubt that I would even know that such a thing existed.
i love it. i think it is so awesome that you've pointed all that out. or maybe i'm just a reclusive nerd that way. ha. have a lovely day and keep up the good work.
exactly.
Have you ever read her book The World For World is Forest? Reading that was one of the best afternoons of my life, I was so involved that I could not have stopped if my life depended on it.
I always think about language, because it is so vast, so expansive, think about how huge an unabridged dictionary is and yet...there are so many times when I cannot find the world to describe because they do not exist. For all of our grasp of language, there is so much that cannot be put into words acurately.
therefore, we use metaphor. we say that it smells like this, tastes like that, reminds us of so and so. but it is never right, because the minute that we put it into words, it becomes a work of fiction, no matter how real the experience may have been.
in a way that is what I love the most about language, it is everything, and it is nothing all at the same time.
Word.
Here, here! *pounds on table approvingly*
indubiously put. with enjoyment of reading the second paragraph, i had to comment.
good quote. endless props already i see. =)
Wonderful quotes. It seems that most of the xangans I read have danced around that issue in the last few weeks. Intriguing. Red must be right.
Comments are closed.