It’s true that words are mightier than swords. They may not physically kill us but they could do damage in many aspects to a person’s wholeness. The effects could linger on for many years and throw this person intermittently in sadness. The wounds could heal but the scars left behind would serve as a reminder for the rest of a person’s life.
Words blurted out by an angry person towards another could be hurtful because while on a spate of anger, a person forgets reason and tact.
There are words candidly spoken then forgotten by the person who said them and forever remembered by those who heard it. Saying hurtful words to an individual that we claim is important to us belies any claim that the person is special in our life, otherwise, we would exercise caution and a lot of thoughtfulness. Those words would not even cross our consciousness even when we were upset towards that person.
I’ve mentioned it before, I believe what a psychology professor at Harvard said that we mean every word that comes out of our mouth including what we claim are jokes. The usual excuse “it was said in jest” or “I didn’t mean what I said” are not true according to this professor and author. Right at that moment when the words were spoken, the one saying it really meant it. The mind processed it, the heart had felt it and the mouth blurted it.
I super agree with the psychology professor.
Me too.