Words on words...

[Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM>]

I found this in the "Points to Ponder" column in an old Reader's Digest
my mom had stashed away.  Thought you all would share some appreciation
for it.

        The power of words.  They sing.  They hurt.  They teach.  They
sanctify.  They were man's first, immeasurable feat of magic.  They
liberated us from ignorance and our barbarous past.
        For without these marvellous scribbles which build letters into
words, words into sentences, sentences into systems and sciences and
creeds, man would be forever confined to the self-isolated prison of
the cuttlefish or the chimpanzee.
        We live by words: LOVE, TRUTH, GOD.  We fight for words:
FREEDOM, COUNTRY, FAME.  We die for words: LIBERTY, GLORY, HONOUR.
They bestow the priceless gift of articulacy on our minds and hearts --
from "Mama" to "infinity."  And those who truly shape our destiny, the
giants who teach us, inspire us, lead us to deeds of immortality, are
those who use words with clarity, grandeur and passion: Socrates,
Jesus, Luther, Lincoln, Churchill.  Caught between affluence and
anxiety, we may give thanks for the endless riches in the kingdom of
print.
                                        - Leo Rosten, Quoted in _Look_

Pass it on to other wordcrafters' lists. :-)



 Your friend and mine,
 Matt
 <insert standard disclaimer here>
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 They say there are strangers, who threaten us
 Our immigrants and infidels
 They say there is strangeness, too dangerous
 In our theaters and bookstore shelves
 Those who know what's best for us
 Must rise and save us from ourselves
                                - Rush, "Witch Hunt"

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