We have been given the gift of language, and each word is precious. A speech with many words, however, does not equal the sum of its parts. Words, like jewels, are only valuable in their rarity. Overuse of words can turn them from a treasure to trash. This is true of words in general and individually.
For instance, in English we have one word for deep affection: Love. We can say we "love" God, but we also "love" our shoes. We "love" our families, we "love" our friends, we "love" to work, we "love" ourselves.
"Obviously those don't all mean the same thing!" one might say. Clearly. Maybe we can use one word for all those things since our thoughts and beliefs dictate our language. But, our language also dictates our thoughts and beliefs. Perhaps if we had more words for love we would learn to love more deeply.

No comments:
Post a Comment