Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of words Power of literature Literature Writing

Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Source

Journals of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

United States

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Journal entry. 18 May 1848.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne about power of words: “Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in…”
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A quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne about power of words: “Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in…”
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A quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne about power of words: “Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1840s

For, though the origin of most of our words is forgotten, each word was at first a stroke of genius, and obtained currency, because for the moment it symbolized the world to the first speaker and to the hearer. The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays: Second Series (Emerson)

More information about this quote
Topic
Words Language

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Source
The Poet Essays: Second Series (Emerson)
Medium
Essay
Language
English
Time
1844 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “The Poet.” Essays: Second Series. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1844.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "The Poet (1844)." The Portable Emerson, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. Penguin Classics, 2014.

Another quote about Power of literature

A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.

Franz Kafka

More information about this quote
Topic
Self-discovery Power of literature Books

Author

Franz Kafka
Source
Letters of Franz Kafka
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
German
Time
1904 1900s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Kafka, Franz. Letter to Oskar Pollak. 27 Jan. 1904.

Current Citation

Kafka, Franz. Franz Kafka: Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors, translated by Richard and Clara Winston. Schocken, 1990.