They were just words.
“Tear down the Berlin Wall!” Reagan to Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate, 1987
“Chance of rain.” Weatherman in Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
“Give me liberty or give me death.” Patrick Henry, 1775
“I wish I’d never read this book… so I could read it again for the first time”. Dan Trimble about Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea”. 1992
“The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.” Erma Bombeck. 1976
We often underestimate the value of words. “Good job, son.” “Best cobbler I ever ate.” “Did you paint that yourself?” “I’m really proud of you.” “Thank ya, Love.”
We underestimate their power. “You shouldn’t a let that kid beat ya.” “Maybe you should lose some weight, Hon.” “You should’a tried harder.” “Not again, they’ve heard those stories before.” “You do that everytime!”
There are people whose opinions we truly value. There are people whose praise we’d die for. They are often two different things. Sometimes we genuinely would like to improve ourselves. “Yer lettin’ your rope go too soon.” “Give him his head.” “Always check the hind feet when you set him up.”
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