Word

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There it was, word for word,
The poem that took the place of a mountain.


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 – Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
 – The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain [1952], st. I

A word has the power to define, to bind, to create, to destroy. Truely, a poet has power undreamt of by kings.

My favourite word in the English language is »language«. However, if you gave me a slightly larger set of words to choose from I might have more difficulty expressing a preference.

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We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words.

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 – Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
 – Sand and Foam [1926]

And then some more words come along and a paragraph is born.

Words are like prodigies. They may want to stay inside where it is safe and warm but they'll never live if they never play outside...and find themselves lost in the cold.

Rotor is a fine palindrome, thought Frank Leigh Dearie as he ambled down the Lost Highway.

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Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

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 – Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
 – An Essay on Criticism [1711], pt. II, l. 109

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Words like winter snowflakes.

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 – Homer (c. 700 B.C.)
 – The Iliad, bk. III, l. 222

The best way to discover new words is by reading a book.

Which is more useful to you: a dictionary that tells you how to use a word or a dictionary that tells you how a word is used?

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

(Mark Twain)

on Mar 22nd 2001, 02:07:31, Natasha Jordan wrote the following about

word

Think how much acceptance Mary showed when she said:

»Let it be done to me according to thy word.«

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And how much courage.

... words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe...