An recent and otherwise-excellent piece by a national columnist began, "Words are 'the money of fools,' Thomas Hobbes claimed."

That struck me as uncharacteristic of Hobbes, and when I looked it up the full quotation was quite different. Still, the columnist's version caused me to wonder whether there might be some interesting quotations commenting negatively on "words".

This isn't word-related, but I just couldn't resist. Just what are you folks doing out there in Oregon, Asa?

quote:

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Gay sheep that mate only with other rams have different brain structures from “straight” sheep, ... the team at Oregon Health Sciences University said.

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Quoted elsewhere: "No, not THERE!"

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
-- Abigail Adams

Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one.
-- Adlai Stevenson

A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.
-- Herman Melville

The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand.
-- Lewis Thomas

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
-- Lily Tomlin

Do not accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.
-- Samuel Johnson

"Words, words, words! They shut one off from the universe. Three quarters of the time one’s never in contact with things, only with the beastly words that stand for them."
-- Aldous Huxley

"Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good."
-- Lao-Tzu

Slightly off topic but I was reminded by that last one of the remark attributed to Samuel Johnson

Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.

Quid quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur

Read all about my travels around the world here.

Words whispered on Earth are heard in Heaven like thunder; evil done in dark places the gods see like lightning. ~~ Chinese proverb

"George Bush's lips are where words go to die"
-Garrison Keilor-

"Words out through the lips like toads!
And if there is a pearl among them
she will surely get lost in the confusion."

~~Anne Sexton (1928–1974), U.S. poet.