Master (or be Mastered by) Language

"Words, no matter whether they are vocalized and made into sounds or remain unspoken as thoughts, can cast an almost hypnotic spell upon you. You easily lose yourself in them, become hypnotized into implicitly believing that when you have attached a word to something, you know what it is." ~ Eckhart Tolle

Much of my thoughts lately have been on the use of words and how language can impact what one thinks and how one leads their life.  I've written on the dangers of blindly adopting abstract and conventional meanings of words, such as retirement, freedom, success and productivity, and I will write more on this in the future.

There will also be a substantial section of quotes on words and language in my forthcoming e-book.  Here a few quotes, in addition to the featured Tolle quote, that will be included in the e-book:

"To the extent that language forces experiences into categories it is a screen between reality and the human being. In a word, we pay for its benefits… Therefore, while using language, as we must of necessity, we should be aware of its shortcomings." ~ Abraham Maslow

"The word is not the thing. I may describe a mountain most beautifully, paint it, make a poem, but the word, the description, the poem, is not the actual. We are generally carried away emotionally, irrationally by the description, by the word." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man." ~ Martin Heidegger

Here are a few posts from the blog archives I've written on the perils of language:

How Can We Help Being Deceived?

Sound Financial Advice: Don't Identify With Things

What Do You Look Like Under Your Mask?

The Five-Minute Retirement Plan

Comments

[constructivemedia]

"... language, for the individual consciousness, lies on the borderline between oneself and the other. The word in language is half someone else's. It becomes "one's own" only when the speaker populates it with his own intention, his own accent, when he appropriates the word, adapting it to his own semantic and expressive intention. Prior to this moment of appropriation, the word does not exist in a neutral and impersonal language (it is not, after all, out of a dictionary that the speaker get his words!), but rather it exists in other people's mouths, in other people's contexts, serving other people's intentions: it is from there that one must take the word, and make it 'one's own'." ~Mikhail Bakhtin

I enjoyed the posts & thought you might appreciate the above quote.

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

You were correct in your guess that I would appreciate your shared quote!

I also appreciate the extension of our dialogue, which began at The Big Picture last week.

I hope the dialogue continues...

[Eric Napier]

Hi Kent. Looking forward to reading what you have to say about how language affects our thinking.

I have another quote for you:
"That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted." --George Boole

There are several more at my quote site. You might find something to use there. I've put it in the URL here. Hope you see something you like.

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Thanks Eric!

I like the Ron Paul quote at your site:

"Without precise meanings behind words, politicians and elites can obscure reality and condition people to reflexively associate certain words with positive or negative perceptions. In other words, unpleasant facts can be hidden behind purposely meaningless language."

[superdry uk]

Therefore, while using language, as we must of necessity, we should be aware of its shortcomings." ~ Abraham Maslow