essay of power of words

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The Power of Words

• Lucy Swedberg

How language connects, differentiates, and enlightens us

Four new books investigate how language connects, differentiates, and enlightens us. Viorica Marian’s The Power of Language explores the benefits of multilingualism. People who are multilingual perform better on executive-functioning tasks, for instance, and draw more novel connections.

In A Myriad of Tongues, author Caleb Everett notes that more than 7,000 languages exist today. And while academics traditionally looked for commonalities among languages, recent research has focused on how languages diverge, and what those differences can teach us.

A third book, Magic Words, by Wharton professor Jonah Berger, examines how specific words can carry an oversize impact, making them more likely to change hearts and minds or drive change.

By contrast, Dan Lyons’s STFU reminds readers that sometimes saying nothing is the best approach. “All of us,” he writes, “stand to gain by speaking less, listening more, and communicating with intention.” His book offers advice on how to do that, whether online, at work, or at home.

About a year ago, a friend suggested that I enroll in an adult tap-dance class held at our town’s community center. The suggestion wasn’t as random as it might seem. For nearly two decades in my youth, I had loved tapping in classes and onstage. And when I laced up those black leather shoes after a nearly 20-year hiatus, I felt instantly at home.

• LS Lucy Swedberg is an executive editor at Harvard Business Publishing, focused on education.

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Essay on The Power of Words

Students are often asked to write an essay on The Power of Words in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on The Power of Words

The power of words.

Words are more than just a means to communicate. They have the power to inspire, motivate, and change perspectives.

Words Inspire

Words can inspire us to achieve great things. They can encourage us to strive for success and never give up.

Words Motivate

Motivational words can help us to overcome challenges. They give us the strength to keep going when times are tough.

Words Change Perspectives

Words can change our views. They can help us see things from a different angle, opening our minds to new ideas and possibilities.

250 Words Essay on The Power of Words

The influence of verbal expressions, words as catalysts of change.

Words can instigate revolutions and inspire social change. Historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi utilized the power of words to galvanize masses, leading to significant societal transformations. Equally, in literature, authors use words to challenge prevailing norms, stimulate thought, and foster empathy.

The Destructive Power of Words

Conversely, words can also be destructive. They can perpetuate stereotypes, incite hatred, and trigger conflict. Words used irresponsibly, without consideration for their potential impact, can cause irreversible damage.

Words in the Digital Age

In the digital age, the power of words is amplified. Social media platforms provide a global stage where words can spread rapidly, influencing millions within seconds. This underscores the need for responsible communication to prevent the spread of misinformation and hate speech.

In conclusion, the power of words is undeniable. They shape our perceptions, influence our actions, and define our society. As such, we must wield them responsibly, understanding that our words can either build bridges or erect barriers. The choice is ours.

500 Words Essay on The Power of Words

The essence of words.

Words, the basic building blocks of communication, are more than mere symbols or sounds. They carry immense power, shaping our thoughts, actions, and the world around us. They can build bridges or erect walls, heal wounds or inflict pain, inspire revolutions or maintain status quo.

The Constructive Power of Words

The power of words in interpersonal relationships.

In interpersonal relationships, words can nurture bonds, express love, and foster understanding. A well-chosen word can mend a broken relationship, while a harsh one can irreparably damage it. Words have the power to validate someone’s feelings, making them feel seen, heard, and understood.

However, the power of words is not always positive. Words can also destroy. They can breed hatred, instigate violence, and perpetuate stereotypes. Hate speech, for instance, uses words to marginalize, intimidate, and dehumanize certain groups, leading to social division and conflict.

The Power of Words in Politics and Society

The responsibility that comes with the power of words.

Given the power of words, it is essential to use them responsibly. This means being mindful of the potential impact of our words on others, striving for accuracy and truthfulness in our communication, and using words to promote understanding, respect, and peace.

Conclusion: The Enduring Power of Words

In conclusion, words are not just passive carriers of meaning. They are active agents in shaping our reality. They have the power to create and destroy, to heal and hurt, to enlighten and deceive. As wielders of this power, we have a responsibility to use words wisely and ethically. The power of words is a testament to the power of human communication and the profound impact it can have on our individual lives and society at large.

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The Power of Words, Simone Weil

• 15 October, 2021

Simone Weil wrote the essay, ‘The Power of Words’ , when she was twenty-five after she returned from the Spanish Civil War where she had joined the Republican faction. Weil had already visited Germany in 1932 where she was concerned about the rise of the fascists, her concerns validated after Hitler rose to power in 1933. It was during this social and political turmoil in Europe, on the brink of World War II, that Weil’s prophetic voice rang out in this searing essay. But her diagnosis of what besets contemporary society in her time can still speak to us today.

For Weil, the mis-use of words—the way they are used to obscure rather than grasp reality—was leading society into unending conflict. The greatest danger she saw unfolding was the use of ‘empty words’ given ‘capital letters’ that were used as a banner or hostile slogan, by means of which, “on the slightest pretext, men will begin shedding blood for them and piling up ruin in their name, without effectively grasping anything to which they refer…”. It is their very lack of meaning that makes it impossible to define clear objectives in a conflict or to measure whether the cost justifies the effort—and sacrifices—it demands. The result is that in such conflicts the only barometer of success is the extermination of the enemy.

For Weil, this gave contemporary conflict its unreal nature, based as it was on the use of words that do not refer to concrete reality but abstract entities. Words misused in her time, but also in ours, include those such as: nation, security, capitalism, communism, fascism, order, authority, property and democracy. “If we grasp one of these words,” Simone Weil writes, “all swollen with blood and tears, and squeeze it, we find it is empty. Words with content and meaning are not murderous.”

Take for example, the words ‘nation’ and ‘national interest.’ Weil contends that if we examine the way these terms have been used in modern history, the national interest of every State has been in retaining its capacity to make war, while at the same time depriving all other countries of it. Yet our leaders will call forth people to defend the ‘nation’ and the ‘national interest,’ as if there were a real opposition of interest between nations. If that were the case, she argues, nations would be able to negotiate and bargain for their interests. These calls amount to nothing other than defending the nation’s capacity to make war. “For the word national and the expressions of which it forms part are empty of all meaning; their only content is millions of corpses, and orphans, and disabled men, and tears and despair.”

Take for example, the words ‘nation’ and ‘national interest.’ Weil contends that if we examine the way these terms have been used in modern history, the national interest of every State has been in retaining its capacity to make war, while at the same time depriving all other countries of it.

Empty words then are illusory, meaning everything and nothing; but they are attached to real, material things. Although the word ‘nation’ and the way it is used in sloganeering is abstract and empty, the State and its affiliated apparatuses is very real. The supposed opposition between fascism and communism was an imaginary distinction for Weil, on closer analysis she believed they actually reflected “identical political and social conceptions.” But in her time, two very real oppositional political organisations existed whose aim was complete power and elimination of the other, with people on both sides willing to die and to kill for these words. “Corresponding to each empty abstraction there is an actual human group…”

Weil’s diagnosis was that words were no longer used as signs to help us grasp some aspect of concrete reality. But even more dire than that, she argued that we have also lost the capacity to use words with measure and proportion. Phrases such as ‘to the extent that’ and ideas such as degree, limit, comparison, contingency and interdependence, amongst others, are no longer used. For example, “There is democracy to the extent that … or: There is capitalism in so far as …” Instead, words are used as if reflecting an absolute, immutable reality, and “at the same time we make all these words mean, successively or simultaneously, anything whatsoever.” 

Words lose their meaning when they become reified as things in themselves, rather than the means to judge and ascertain the state of social structures. We essentialise people and parties as belonging inherently to certain words like dictatorship or democracy, such that, “our political universe is peopled exclusively by myths and monsters; all it contains is absolutes and abstract entities.” We seek to crush those who belong to the ‘other’ side of that abstract word. We don’t seek to examine the variations, the changing causes of phenomena, the specific conditions that give rise to them, and the limits within which they occur, in order to come up with solutions that have some discernment; solutions that actually might work because they address specific issues and have concrete objectives, other than just defeating the other side. Instead, “we act and strive and sacrifice ourselves and others by reference to fixed and isolated abstractions…”

These words resonate across the more than eighty years since Weil wrote them. It could be argued that a lack of nuance, measure and proportion in how we use our words and in our thinking is a real mark of our times. In the age of social media, clickbait, and ‘content’ creation, much discussion is levelled out to bitesize pieces, to easy arguments where you’re either for or against, to a descent into facile comparisons. The poet Kaveh Akbar made this point about why he needed time off from Twitter:

“On social media, the same rhetorical language was being used about the casting of some Marvel movie as about the leveling of a village in Syria. The same exact rhetorical algorithms of outrage were used to talk about one as the other. Our brains haven’t evolved enough to differentiate between the two. Language is language. And so I was just not in command of my compassion, the distribution and focus of my rage, and it took a while to recalibrate.”

Short attention spans and a tendency towards simplification have perhaps always existed, but this seems to be turbo charged in our current era, where the ‘content’ that reaches us is often determined by algorithms that increasingly seal us off into echo chambers. In our pandemic times this is nowhere more illustrated than in the vaccination debate. Either you are unequivocally for vaccines and worship at the altar of medical science, or you are an anti-vaxxer and believer of vast and incredible conspiracies, mainly linked to the threat of our supposed freedom. Each side goes to ‘war’ with the other with no real measure of what the multiple issues are, no discernment about how what is true is dependent on certain conditions (instead vaccines are either always good, or always bad) and in relation to a host of factors.

It is true that social media has provided a powerful platform for marginalised groups in society. Giving a voice to groups of people who have been previously left out is to be lauded, as it is redistributing some of the power (if power is also about having a platform to be heard), and there have been many instances of social media being used to mobilise movements such as #MeToo and pro-democracy protests such as the Umbrella Movement (as well as its opposite).

Source image: Wikimedia

But the nature of the platform—word limits, algorithms, scrolling that has fractured our attention—has also meant that it has flattened a lot of debate. Debate is also a good word that characterizes much of the discourse on social media, focused as it is more on winning an argument rather than having a conversation or discussion, where there might be mutual listening and an attempt to understand the ‘other side.’

In discussions of the issues of the day, we can’t seem to hold differing ideas or understandings in tension for long enough to explore nuance, tease out implications, bring underlying assumptions or commitments to the surface. By contrast, the measured and proportionate words Weil advocates the use of can allow us to discern and grasp the fuller meaning and reality of something ; and if nothing is absolute, then it becomes possible to entertain the fact that a seemingly contradictory thing can also be true, to a certain extent. 

We need to determine to what extent the nuances of conflicting things can be true if we are to apprehend reality properly rather than flattening it out—if we are to propose goals and solutions that actually address concrete issues rather than just merely be used for abstract sloganeering and banner waving. In that sense, for our times Weil’s call to revive the use of expressions like to the extent that, in so far as, on condition that, in relation to, is more necessary than ever. 

Discernment, analysis, measured words —these are the tools which could be an antidote against what Weil termed “the swarm of vacuous entities or abstractions.” Perhaps even more than in her time, our contemporary culture cultivates this ‘swarm.’ The pandemic might have been a time for us to sit back and reflect on what we are doing and where we are headed, individually and as a society. As the world slowly opens up again, will we retreat to how things were before the pandemic, continuing to move at a breakneck pace, or will we have learnt from the past couple of years, where perhaps a space has opened up for questioning business as usual?

In Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future , Pope Francis touches on the need to rediscover the art of discernment . This is surely connected to Weil’s appeal to a greater discernment in how we use words, so that outcomes are based on apprehending the reality of a given situation and addressing concrete objectives, rather than the desire to compete and win against our supposed opponents. 

This call for discernment is also surely linked to a contemplative approach not only to social and political issues, but also to the way in which we individually and institutionally engage in processes that are capable of this discernment, reflection and mutual listening. As Sarah Bachelard terms it, this way of being could form the basis of a ‘contemplative politics.’ She asks: 

The words we use will be of significance in this process. As Weil understood, words have the power to illuminate, but also to obscure; to lead to unending conflict, but also to greater consciousness. 

‘The Power of Words’ essay published in Simone Weil : An Anthology, edited and introduced by Sian Miles (Penguin Modern Classics)

Featured image source: Google Images

3 thoughts on “The Power of Words, Simone Weil”

This article seems to skirt the real issues we face with regard to words today – that being the suppression of free speech (called misinformation/disinformation) with the resultant cancellation of persons in the most cruel ways. Never have I seen such a world of lies. Words are being misused. Meanings of words are being altered (vaccine definition altered to accommodate the fact that the vax does not give immunity) New words are being created (e.g. the gender identity phenomena) Platforms for conversation have become a means of propagandizing rather than discussing – via algorithms. Twitter leadership , for instance, has an agenda, and it does not serve free speech. We are at a transformational point in history where things can go very badly.

What we have to recognize is the use of words that promote international authoritarianism. Even movements concerning the environment are being used by these authoritarians with “words” that appeal to good-hearted people but at their core will lead to power being concentrated in the hands of those who really seek control over others. Look at the ACTIONS, rather than the words of the “climate crisis” pied pipers. They live in luxury, travel on private planes to climate conferences, AND they refuse to use their words to challenge the world’s biggest polluters. Why? Fear of retaliation? What is your “social score”?

Where is TRUTH in all these words we hear in the media? Our words must serve freedom and truth. “By their fruits, you shall know them.” Not by their words.

My worst word is refugie crise. It is a word that puts the Rich countries in Europe in the center. But the real crises are the War, the narko produktion and the hunger, which make people flee their homelands. You could say the same about climatcrise. The climat is the climat and Can not be in crisis. But our society is in crisis because of our own behavour. The climate just react naturally on our inpact. By calling the two subjects crisis our responsability is blurred.

This article really makes me think about the words i use, and to really examine where i stand on some of the “issues” of our day. Simone Weil is an author i need to read and discuss with others.

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The Irrefutable Power Of Words

You’ve experienced the power of words in a way you will never forget. Even now, the memory lingers.

How could a few small words have such a big impact on your life?

Words have power . And only when you experienced that power yourself — either as the giver or as the receiver — did you begin to understand it.

You can use the power of words to heal or comfort others. Or you can use it to tear them down. Your character shapes and is shaped by the way you use this power.

So, how can you make the most of it?

Examples of the Power of Spoken Words

Examples of the power of written words, why are words so powerful for humans, 1. speak the truth., 2. avoid exaggerations., 3. don’t use double standards., 4. don’t use your words to manipulate others., 5. be consistent in what you say., 6. speak mindfully., 7. use words to benefit others..

When was the last time you heard spoken words that changed your perspective on something or someone? Maybe the words felt like a sucker punch.

Or maybe they lit you up inside and inspired you to make a change.

Consider the following examples of spoken words:

• Speeches and Lectures
• Song Lyrics
• Conversations (spoken)
• Audiobooks or Podcasts
• Movies or TV shows

Now, see if you can recall any memories of negative words for each of these samples.

Are there songs you find difficult to listen to because of the negative lyrics? Or have you been avoiding someone because of a recent negative outburst?

Maybe you’re thinking of negative words you’ve never heard but that felt, in your mind, as though they’d been spoken aloud – and directly to you.

Guess what’s next.

Written words also have power — for the one who writes them and for those who read them.

You’ve felt this power. And maybe you’ve wielded it yourself.

Maybe you even consider it your superpower. You’re not wrong to call it that.

Consider the following examples:

• Journal entries
• Articles / Blog Posts
• Letters, Notes, and Emails
• Stories and Poems
• Awards / Commendations or Written Reprimands
• Books and Book Reviews

Never underestimate the power of a thoughtful note — or a love poem — or a compelling story.

The right words draw you in and build connections. The wrong words destroy relationships or prevent them from ever being built.

This is why marketers pay well for effective copywriting .

If your words can connect with your target audience and persuade them that paying for a particular product or service will change their life for the better, you most definitely have a superpower.

Use it for good.

Humans are the only species on this planet that has the power of speech and of the written word (as far as we know).

But in spite of the creative potential this power gives us, we spend more time exploring its destructive potential.

And we sabotage our own health and happiness when we do.

According to functional MRI scans (fMRI ), just looking at a list of negative words (including the word “NO”) worsens anxiety and depression.

And dwelling on those words can actually damage key structures in the brain — including those responsible for memory, feelings, and emotions.

Vocalizing that negativity releases more stress hormones, not only in you but in those who hear you.

Even silent worrying (about money, relationships, work, etc.) stimulates the release of neurochemicals that make you and those around you feel worse.

Empaths are particularly sensitive to this, but everyone around you is affected to some degree. And you as the ruminator suffer the most.

So, how can you turn things around?

7 Tips for Making Your Written and Spoken Words Powerful

“Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” — Gautama Buddha

Trust is built on honesty; people want to know they can depend on you to tell them the truth, even when it hurts to hear it (and even if it makes you look bad).

There are times when lying can save a life. But in most cases, with relationships, a reputation for lying will rob you of your power to connect with them.

Without truth behind them, your words lose their meaning and become empty noise.

Saying “You never….” or “You always…” to berate others ensures that your negative message about them (which is personal) will eclipse whatever message you’re trying to send.

Very few people are consistent enough to “always” leave the toilet seat up or to “never” take out the garbage. And they know that.

So, if you accuse them of a perfect record of thoughtlessness, their own disagreement with your memory will make it difficult to pick up on the underlying request.

Double standards are when you have different rules or different expectations of two or more different people of equal ability in the same situation.

For example, if your employer, Biff, tells one employee, Jack, that all he needs to do is X and Y but then he tells Sally she’ll have to X, Y, and Z — and in less time — to receive the same reward (or 79% of it), he’s using the power of words (and money) to impose a double standard.

And once he does and word gets around, Biff’s own words will create an atmosphere of injustice.

No one wants to work for an employer who devalues and exploits others.

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Marketing isn’t about using words to pressure or manipulate people into spending their money on whatever you’re selling.

Neither is it about competing with other marketers to see who can use their words more effectively to make customers feel things.

If the only reason you’re trying to build a connection is to get something from the other person, they’ll pick up on that.

And even if you do persuade them to buy something, it’ll leave skid marks in their memory.

They’ll remember you as someone who used the power of words to line your own pockets at their expense. And their regret is your loss.

Consistency is saying or doing the same thing regardless of the circumstances, as long as those words or actions still apply.

It is possible to overdo consistency. And none of us is perfect.

But when it comes to the power of words, you don’t want to give anyone the impression that your words and actions will change whenever you feel the slightest pressure to change them — regardless of the consequences.

If someone’s words change too easily, they’re the verbal equivalent of shifting sands. You can’t build anything on them that won’t fall apart.

Fickle words have no power.

A daily mindfulness practice trains you to be aware of your thoughts and feelings, without judging them.

So, you can acknowledge that someone’s words or actions have made you feel devalued or manipulated.

But you don’t have to avenge your ego by using words as defense weapons.

You retain your power when you take a step back and use your words to restore balance instead.

When you use the power of beautiful words to express empathy rather than anger or condescension, you put the good of the souls involved ahead of your own impulses. You might also enjoy these mindfulness journal prompts .

Karma demands that we pay for every unkind word we speak or write. Every time we use the power of words against another soul, we guarantee that, sooner or later, we’ll experience the same pain we’ve inflicted.

Think of that the next time you look back at a conversation and wish you’d used the comeback that came to mind a half-hour later.

Or, better yet, think of that when you’re about to say (or write) a scathing response to someone who has verbally attacked you.

Even if you succeed in turning their own words against them, you’ll eventually realize that the victory wasn’t worth the alienation you caused.

Use your power to build them up instead.

Will you take advantage of the power of words?

Asking questions instead of resting on statements is another way to benefit from the power of words.

Questions open your mind, while statements (assumptions, snap judgments, and fixed beliefs) close it.

If you pride yourself on keeping an open mind — about people, ideas, and situations — you should be using words to ask more questions rather than to utter statements no one is allowed to question.

The words you speak can either promote growth and connection or undermine it.

Take a moment today to think of the words you want to be remembered for. Before you speak, think of the words you’d want to say if they were your last.

May the words you choose bless everyone who hears (or reads) them today.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — William Shakespeare — The Power of Words in English Literature

The Power of Words in English Literature

• Categories: William Shakespeare

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Words: 596 |

Published: Aug 1, 2024

Words: 596 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe

By edgar allan poe, the power of words.

• Year Published: 1903
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States of America
• Source: Poe, E.A. (1903). The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition, Volume 4 . New York: P. F. Collier and Son.
• Flesch–Kincaid Level: 8.2
• Word Count: 1,439
• Genre: Fantasy
• Keywords: creation, free will, human nature, impulse
• ✎ Cite This

Poe, E. (1903). The Power of Words. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5227/the-power-of-words/

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Power of Words." The Works of Edgar Allan Poe . Lit2Go Edition. 1903. Web. https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5227/the-power-of-words/ >. August 10, 2024.

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Power of Words," The Works of Edgar Allan Poe , Lit2Go Edition, (1903), accessed August 10, 2024, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/147/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe/5227/the-power-of-words/ .

OINOS. Pardon, Agathos, the weakness of a spirit new-fledged with immortality!

AGATHOS. You have spoken nothing, my Oinos, for which pardon is to be demanded. Not even here is knowledge thing of intuition. For wisdom, ask of the angels freely, that it may be given!

OINOS. But in this existence, I dreamed that I should be at once cognizant of all things, and thus at once be happy in being cognizant of all.

AGATHOS. Ah, not in knowledge is happiness, but in the acquisition of knowledge! In for ever knowing, we are for ever blessed; but to know all were the curse of a fiend.

OINOS. But does not The Most High know all?

AGATHOS. That (since he is The Most Happy) must be still the one thing unknown even to Him.

OINOS. But, since we grow hourly in knowledge, must not at last all things be known?

AGATHOS. Look down into the abysmal distances!—attempt to force the gaze down the multitudinous vistas of the stars, as we sweep slowly through them thus—and thus—and thus! Even the spiritual vision, is it not at all points arrested by the continuous golden walls of the universe?—the walls of the myriads of the shining bodies that mere number has appeared to blend into unity?

OINOS. I clearly perceive that the infinity of matter is no dream.

AGATHOS. There are no dreams in Aidenn—but it is here whispered that, of this infinity of matter, the sole purpose is to afford infinite springs, at which the soul may allay the thirst to know, which is for ever unquenchable within it—since to quench it, would be to extinguish the soul's self. Question me then, my Oinos, freely and without fear. Come! we will leave to the left the loud harmony of the Pleiades, and swoop outward from the throne into the starry meadows beyond Orion, where, for pansies and violets, and heart's—ease, are the beds of the triplicate and triple—tinted suns.

OINOS. And now, Agathos, as we proceed, instruct me!—speak to me in the earth's familiar tones. I understand not what you hinted to me, just now, of the modes or of the method of what, during mortality, we were accustomed to call Creation. Do you mean to say that the Creator is not God?

AGATHOS. I mean to say that the Deity does not create.

OINOS. Explain.

AGATHOS. In the beginning only, he created. The seeming creatures which are now, throughout the universe, so perpetually springing into being, can only be considered as the mediate or indirect, not as the direct or immediate results of the Divine creative power.

OINOS. Among men, my Agathos, this idea would be considered heretical in the extreme.

AGATHOS. Among angels, my Oinos, it is seen to be simply true.

OINOS. I can comprehend you thus far—that certain operations of what we term Nature, or the natural laws, will, under certain conditions, give rise to that which has all the appearance of creation. Shortly before the final overthrow of the earth, there were, I well remember, many very successful experiments in what some philosophers were weak enough to denominate the creation of animalculae.

AGATHOS. The cases of which you speak were, in fact, instances of the secondary creation—and of the only species of creation which has ever been, since the first word spoke into existence the first law.

OINOS. Are not the starry worlds that, from the abyss of nonentity, burst hourly forth into the heavens—are not these stars, Agathos, the immediate handiwork of the King?

AGATHOS. Let me endeavor, my Oinos, to lead you, step by step, to the conception I intend. You are well aware that, as no thought can perish, so no act is without infinite result. We moved our hands, for example, when we were dwellers on the earth, and, in so doing, gave vibration to the atmosphere which engirdled it. This vibration was indefinitely extended, till it gave impulse to every particle of the earth's air, which thenceforward, and for ever, was actuated by the one movement of the hand. This fact the mathematicians of our globe well knew. They made the special effects, indeed, wrought in the fluid by special impulses, the subject of exact calculation—so that it became easy to determine in what precise period an impulse of given extent would engirdle the orb, and impress (for ever) every atom of the atmosphere circumambient. Retrograding, they found no difficulty, from a given effect, under given conditions, in determining the value of the original impulse. Now the mathematicians who saw that the results of any given impulse were absolutely endless—and who saw that a portion of these results were accurately traceable through the agency of algebraic analysis—who saw, too, the facility of the retrogradation—these men saw, at the same time, that this species of analysis itself, had within itself a capacity for indefinite progress—that there were no bounds conceivable to its advancement and applicability, except within the intellect of him who advanced or applied it. But at this point our mathematicians paused.

OINOS. And why, Agathos, should they have proceeded?

AGATHOS. Because there were some considerations of deep interest beyond. It was deducible from what they knew, that to a being of infinite understanding—one to whom the perfection of the algebraic analysis lay unfolded—there could be no difficulty in tracing every impulse given the air—and the ether through the air—to the remotest consequences at any even infinitely remote epoch of time. It is indeed demonstrable that every such impulse given the air, must, in the end, impress every individual thing that exists within the universe;—and the being of infinite understanding—the being whom we have imagined—might trace the remote undulations of the impulse—trace them upward and onward in their influences upon all particles of an matter—upward and onward for ever in their modifications of old forms—or, in other words, in their creation of new—until he found them reflected—unimpressive at last—back from the throne of the Godhead. And not only could such a thing do this, but at any epoch, should a given result be afforded him—should one of these numberless comets, for example, be presented to his inspection—he could have no difficulty in determining, by the analytic retrogradation, to what original impulse it was due. This power of retrogradation in its absolute fulness and perfection—this faculty of referring at all epochs, all effects to all causes—is of course the prerogative of the Deity alone—but in every variety of degree, short of the absolute perfection, is the power itself exercised by the whole host of the Angelic intelligences.

OINOS. But you speak merely of impulses upon the air.

AGATHOS. In speaking of the air, I referred only to the earth; but the general proposition has reference to impulses upon the ether—which, since it pervades, and alone pervades all space, is thus the great medium of creation.

OINOS. Then all motion, of whatever nature, creates?

AGATHOS. It must: but a true philosophy has long taught that the source of all motion is thought—and the source of all thought is—

OINOS. God.

AGATHOS. I have spoken to you, Oinos, as to a child of the fair Earth which lately perished—of impulses upon the atmosphere of the Earth.

OINOS. You did.

AGATHOS. And while I thus spoke, did there not cross your mind some thought of the physical power of words? Is not every word an impulse on the air?

OINOS. But why, Agathos, do you weep—and why, oh why do your wings droop as we hover above this fair star—which is the greenest and yet most terrible of all we have encountered in our flight? Its brilliant flowers look like a fairy dream—but its fierce volcanoes like the passions of a turbulent heart.

AGATHOS. They are!—they are! This wild star—it is now three centuries since, with clasped hands, and with streaming eyes, at the feet of my beloved—I spoke it—with a few passionate sentences—into birth. Its brilliant flowers are the dearest of all unfulfilled dreams, and its raging volcanoes are the passions of the most turbulent and unhallowed of hearts.

The power of words

Can you imagine a world without words?

It would be chaos.

Many times we take them for granted, just as a way of communicating what we want or need. And they actually do that, but at the same time they do something bigger.

Words are powerful. Whether you write or speak them, they do have an impact on you and the others. They express feelings and share knowledge. They can change someones mood completely and ignite a spark in them.

That´s why writing is an extraordinary experience. It´s not just jotting down symbols that form words, it’s a way of expressing what you feel or think. Hence why you should really think before speaking. Once the words are out, they never come back. If you want to expand motivation and peace, your words should reflect that, they should be positive. Otherwise, you would be doing the exact opposite.

Everyone should try writing at least once. It doesn´t matter the topic, or if you want to share it with others, but you should just sit down and take all those thoughts out your head. In that way, you´ll have less going on in your mind and they will probably make more sense to you once you see them.

If you want to test how powerful words are, try for a week saying positive phrases to yourself in front of the mirror, and you´ll soon see a change in your mood and the way you act.

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Words have the power to inspire, motivate, and unite people. They can transform thoughts and ideas into actions, bring comfort in times of need, and ignite the flames of passion and creativity. The right words used at the right moment can change the world, bridge boundaries, and leave a lasting impact. Words can also hurt, intimidate, and destroy, causing irreparable damage to individuals and communities. Therefore, it’s important to use words wisely, with intention and empathy, as they hold immeasurable power and influence.

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Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “The Power of Words” Complete English Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The Power of Words

All over the world, words are the primary way people communicate with each other. It doesn’t matter where you live, what color you are, or what creed you follow; words convey your thoughts. There is no bigger medium of expression.

We use words to thank, to plead, to rejoice, to grieve, to instruct, to congratulate. It doesn’t matter if they are written or they are sung. You just can’t get away from words. From the time you are born and your mom whispers sweet nothings in your ears to the time that the priest reads the scriptures out to you at the end, you can’t get away from words. Yet we pay so little attention to them. We use them at random, sometimes our minds find it hard to keep pace with our tongues. Words have great power. The power to bring peace, the power to spread love , the power to give hope, the power to encourage, the power to guide, the power to comfort, the power to uplift, the power to heal. But they can also kill, they can make you feel small and insignificant, they can hurt you, they can humiliate you, they can rob you of your decency, steal your sleep and even make you sick. Then there are the words that humble you, elevate you, take you closer to God.

Never speak words that can rob another of his dignity and his pride. If you don’t have the words to encourage and elevate, best is to say nothing at all. A kind helping word of encouragement can make someone’s day so be ready with that word any time of the day. You never know whom you might be able to help with your good word of the day.

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The Psychological Power of Words

Words we apply to ourselves can affect us deeply..

Posted August 1, 2024 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

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• Words have psychological effects—the power to inspire and motivate but also the power to hurt.
• Negative words have stinging power when we pin them on ourselves.
• Rethinking what we say to ourselves can free us from prisons of our making.

In a previous post, I examined the psychological power of conjunctions, especially that warm, fuzzy, inclusive conjunction: and. Here we expand our focus to the psychological power of words in general and, in particular, words we apply to ourselves.

We think in words, and the words we utter can have psychological impacts, especially words we pin on ourselves. You are probably familiar with the childhood rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This old adage reminds us that harsh, stinging words from others don’t have to upset us. But far too often, harsh, critical words inflict pain in the form of emotional abuse . So, too, can words we utter to ourselves, about ourselves. Indeed, these words can hurt us just as deeply as any stinging criticism.

Language Influences Thought

Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941)—not the Star Trek character—was an early 20th-century American linguist who proposed that the way we perceive the world is influenced by the language we speak. You may have heard that Northern Indigenous peoples, such as the Inuit, think about snow very differently than the rest of us because they have more than 50 different words for snow. Whether this is merely urban legend remains debatable. Those of us living in lower latitudes have perhaps only a few words to describe different types of snow, such as soft fluffy snow, frost, slush, and, for us city dwellers, the “yellow snow” we see at the curb the day after a snowstorm.

Whorf’s proposal doesn’t depend on how Inuits or other Indigenous peoples think about snow, but more broadly on how our language influences our thinking. Consider gender -based terms. It wasn’t so long ago that people commonly used gender-typed terms, such as the masculine form when referring to members of traditional male-dominated occupations (think firemen and policemen). These occupational terms have largely been supplanted by gender-neutral terms, such as firefighter and police officer. In addition, occupational titles that traditionally carried separate gender designations, such as waiters and waitresses, are now referred to generically, using terms such as wait staff or servers. Many people endorse these gender-neutral designations and for good reason—they can change how we think about occupational opportunities available to young men and women. Today, a young girl may aspire to a career as a police officer, while her mother or grandmother might have felt cut off from this career path because the designated occupational title at the time was policeman .

As a practicing psychologist and not a linguist, my interest in language focuses on the psychological power of words. The road of life is strewn with disappointing, frustrating experiences and outright failures (my pitiful attempts at tennis come to mind). But losing does not make one a loser, and even a pitiful performance on a tennis court does not render one pitiful. A failure is just that, a failure; it does not make a person a failure unless the person labels themself a failure. Life experiences, whether positive or negative, are not statements about personhood—not unless we apply these words to ourselves and permit them to pierce the veil of our personhood.

Label Thyself (Not)

Cognitive therapists recognize that pinning negative labels on ourselves is a type of cognitive distortion that can affect our moods and how we feel about ourselves. If Jane screwed up a presentation at work, she might take failure as a learning opportunity and resolve to make changes the next time around. But if she smacks the label “screw-up” on herself, she might think, “What’s the point of trying?”

A tiger who thinks it is a lamb will act like a lamb. A person who pins a screw-up label on themself may find the expectation of failure fulfilled. Attaching labels to oneself assigns us to a prison of our own making, as we begin to construe ourselves based on the label and act accordingly. Labeling yourself a failure or a loser only makes you feel miserable about yourself. It does not direct you to ways of resolving problems you face.

Choose Your Words Carefully

Yes, words have power. They can inspire and motivate us to move mountains. But they can also work in the opposite way by setting ourselves up for negative outcomes in the form of self-fulfilling prophecies. Expecting to fail leads us to underperform, which can lead to failure.

Adopting a self-questioning style of talking to yourself puts your interpretation of daily experiences on temporary hold, giving you time to consider alternative ways of thinking. Rather than using declarative statements (e.g., "I'm a failure") that posit a fixed view of reality, stop yourself in the act of thinking negatively and substitute a rational countering thought: “I’ve made mistakes, but it doesn’t mean that I’m a failure. . . Stop labeling yourself and figure out what you need to do next." I remember a speaker at a college commencement encouraging the audience to think differently about failure by saying to themselves, “Failure is not fatal. It is feedback.”

In Hamlet , Shakespeare reminds us, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." If thinking makes it so, then rethinking can make it something else. The more you pick away at troubling thoughts, the better able you will be to recognize their flaws and replace them with healthier ways of thinking. You may benefit from consulting a cognitive-behavioral therapist to guide you in identifying your own thought triggers and help you change your inner dialogue to avoid infecting your mind with negative thoughts and nasty labels.

Whose Words Are These, Anyway?

What do you say to yourself when no one else is listening? Do you talk sense to yourself, using inner speech to prepare for the challenges you face in life? Or does your self-talk bring you down? And if you do put yourself down, whose voice does it sound like? Whose words might you be parroting? As I’ve seen so often in my patients, negative self-talk reflects what they have heard (and then internalized) from significant figures in their lives—parents, teachers, siblings, friends.

The takeaway message is that the put-downs and snarky comments you say under your breath about yourself cannot occupy your mind without your permission. After all, it’s your mind. We can take a lesson from the playwright Oscar Wilde, who famously said, “Please do not shoot the piano player; he is doing his best.” By the same token, we need to remind ourselves that we are doing our best and not shoot ourselves by using words that add insult to injury.

General Disclaimer: The content here and in other blog posts on the Minute Therapist is intended for informational purposes only and not for diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of mental health disorders. If you are concerned about your emotional well-being or experiencing any significant mental health problems, I encourage you to consult a licensed mental health professional in your area for a thorough evaluation.

© 2024 Jeffrey S. Nevid.

Jeffrey Nevid, Ph.D. , is a practicing psychologist in New York specializing in CBT and a professor of psychology at St. John's University.

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Powers, Parts and Wholes: Essays on the Mereology of Powers

Christopher J. Austin, Anna Marmodoro, and Andrea Roselli (eds.), Powers, Parts and Wholes: Essays on the Mereology of Powers , Routledge, 2023, 260pp., $180.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781032288567.

Reviewed by Andrew L. McFarland, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

Over the last several decades conversations about dispositions (or powers) have been commonplace among philosophers. [1] According to dispositionalists, properties like fragility are said to have triggers (or stimulus conditions)—like dropping a glass onto the floor—that bring about their manifestations, e.g., breaking, cracking, shattering, etc. What’s more, triggers and manifestations are often claimed to play some sort of individuating role with respect to powers. These considerations raise a philosophical question. Are powers— fragility , flammability , solubility , and the like—ontologically simple or complex? If they are complex, can we understand them compositionally? For example, is breaking a part of the power of fragility ? Or is talk of parthood merely an instance of speaking with the vulgar? This thought-provoking collection of twelve essays edited by Christopher J. Austin, Anna Marmodoro, and Andrea Roselli, addresses the ontological complexity of dispositions. The editors partition the essays into three sections: Part 1, “Parts of Powers” discusses part-whole relations “within a power”; Part 2, “Composition of Powers”, discusses mereological relations “among powers”; Part 3, “Power Mereology in Science” is devoted to issues in the philosophy of science. For this review I will try to summarize some main takeaways from each essay and offer critical and constructive remarks where appropriate.

In their introduction, the editors motivate the discussion with the claim that the literature on powers and dispositions often assumes that powers are simple, fundamental entities. Further, they claim that multi-track accounts—accounts which say that powers are individuated by more than one type of stimulus/manifestation—only “organize the complex manifestation of certain powers into ‘tracks’ but do not explain how this complex manifestation derives from the power” (1). Austin expands on this criticism later in Ch. 3. Multi-tracking accounts only tell us about the “counterfactuals assigned to a single power” (63). This can tell us about the “truthmaking relations that power is involved in”, but “these relations are incapable of providing meaningful information about the nature of powers” (63). Thus, these accounts treat powers as “little more than ‘black boxes’ whose extrinsic complexity stems from a we-know-not-what intrinsic metaphysical foundation” (64).

The first two contributions, Aaron Cotnoir’s chapter, “Carving up the Network of Powers” (Ch. 1), and the second essay from Robert Koons, “Parts and Grounds of Powers” (Ch. 2), are by far the most formal and systematic of the essays.

Cotnoir develops a graph-theoretic network of powers that can—following Plato’s metaphor—be carved according to natural joints, and he considers three methods for carving this network: subcollection , clustering , and coordination . Meanwhile, Koons develops an approach on behalf of the “extreme nominalist” (42), which builds powers out of equivalence classes of conditional facts, and invokes a sui generis conditional that expresses “the fact that if a certain n- tuple of thing were in a certain condition A , some joint power of those things would manifest itself in outcome B ” (42). Both Cotnoir’s and Koons’ systems offer ways to assess the “naturalness” of the resulting complexes: Cotnoir suggests that “unnaturalness” can be measured by the degree of crosscutting between clusters, while Koons suggests a criterion for determining when entities are of the same natural kind.

In Ch. 3, “Complex Powers: Making Many One”, Christopher Austin identifies two ways in which powers can be regarded as complex: “polygeny”—the idea that for a power there can be “many distinct inputs which causally contribute toward the coming about of its manifestation” (61)—and “pleiotrophy”, “which occurs when a single power has many distinct manifestations which may produce from the obtaining of one or more distinct stimuli” (62). An account of the complexity of powers, Austin argues, must accommodate these varieties of complexity in telling a metaphysical story about when many powers become one. After critiquing the metaphysical inadequacy of multi-tracking accounts, he goes on to consider two strategies, essentialist and emergentist accounts, but concludes ultimately that neither of these approaches is satisfactory. However, the main lesson seems to be that an account of the unity of complex powers needs to fall somewhere between accepting mereological fusions and emergence.

In Ch. 4, “Powers as Mereological Lawmakers”, Michael Traynor takes a bottom-up approach about mereological laws. Traynor begins with two Inclusion Principles, along with remarks by George Molnar (2003), to generate an argument that powers can be parts of objects. He goes on to argue that “powers give rise to mereological laws” and considers implications for this claim with respect to debates about whether mereological laws (paralleling similar arguments about laws of nature) are metaphysically necessary or contingent.

Nicky Kroll’s essay, “Determinable Dispositions” (Ch. 5) forgoes a mereological approach altogether and instead assesses the complexity of dispositions in terms of the determinate / determinable relation. Kroll cites Quine’s (1956) observation that desires can be non-specific and goes on to argue that dispositions can be non-specific as well. He goes on to draw three lessons: (i) that determinable dispositions are distinct from multi-track dispositions; (ii) many alleged multi-track dispositions—fragility, irascibility, knowing French—are in fact determinable dispositions; (iii) standard arguments for the claim that a disposition is multi-track turn out to be invalid.

In Ch. 6, Sophie Allen distinguishes between cases of direct composition —the part and the whole are instantiated by the same individual—and cases of indirect composition —cases where an individual is a proper part of another. Allen gives several quite helpful examples, e.g., “The power to spring is part of the power to jump 7.5m.” (113), to make a compelling case that direct composition of powers takes place. However, she gives relatively short shrift to her criticisms of indirect composition. For example, one might appeal to Kathrin Koslicki (2008), whose hylomorphic mereology posits structural proper parts, as a way of \ responding to Allen’s worry about indirect composition violating extensionality.

In Ch. 7, Vera Hoffmann-Kolss explores the non-mereological issue of the logical complexity (i.e., disjunctive) of variables for interventionist models of causation. She argues that interventionist models should make use of disjunctive variables, like “1 if Person P consumes apples or apple products or does not take a pain killer; 0 otherwise”, but that these conflict with proposed definitions “intervention”. However, she claims that these problems can be addressed if interventionists take the values of variables to be properties that “confer conditional causal powers on their bearers” à la Sydney Shoemaker (1980).

In Ch. 8 Xi-Yang Guo and Matthew Tugby sketch and defend an account of collective instantiation analogous to plural instantiation. Key to their argument is the idea of distributive occurrences of predication and instantiation: G occurs distributively where “ the Fs are G is equivalent to each F is G ” (148). For example, “The students in my class are engaged” might distribute to “Each student in my class is engaged”. By contrast, a predicate like “make a star pattern” in “The lights make a star pattern” does not distribute, since the claim is not equivalent to “Each light makes a star pattern”. Thus, according to Guo and Tugby, “make a star pattern” is a non-distributive, collective predicate. However, I’m not so sure that denying distribution entails collectivity. Take examples of generics or bare plurals. “Mosquitos carry yellow fever” does not distribute to “Each mosquito carries yellow fever”. But it also seems incorrect to say that “carries yellow fever” is collectively predicated of the class of all mosquitos since only a couple of species are associated with carrying the disease. Collective predication/instantiation seems to require more than just being non-distributive.

Joaquim Giannotti’s Ch. 9 considers a special composition question about powers (an analogue to the special composition question for material objects), and argues that a modified version of Marmodoro’s (2017) answer is the best way to achieve a restricted (i.e., neither a nihilist nor a universalist) answer to when powers compose. Gianotti goes on to argue that this refined “Marmodoro Condition”, combined with other premises from quantum theory, yields the conclusion that there is an entity he calls the “powerful cosmos”, an object “composed of all the compossible fundamental powers instantiated across the universe” (168).

In Ch. 10 Michele Paolini Paoletti argues for the compatibility of a “naïve view of powers” and the idea that powers compose. According to Paoletti, the “naïve” view holds that there is a “strict, one-to-one correspondence between powers, their bearers, and their manifestations and activations, on the one hand, and the causes, effects, and causal processes on the other” (185). To close out the collection, the third and final section, Part 3, begins with Matteo Morganti’s (Ch. 11) essay, which explores a “Simple Theory” of property composition, where complex properties are “nothing over and above” their constituents, and argues that one can understand the properties of quantum entangled systems by invoking metaphysical coherentism. Simone Gozzano (Ch. 12) completes the collection by considering whether phenomenal states, like tasting white wine, can be considered complex dispositional properties composed of constituents like the experience of the taste of hay, or the taste of green apple. These are further decomposable into protophenomenal atoms, resulting in a picture that fits into current discussions about Russellian monism and panpsychism.

As one can see the essays display at times very different approaches to the question of the complexity of powers. As a result, the attempt to group certain essays into Parts 1, 2, and 3 is a little strained at times. For instance, Cotnoir’s piece on carving a network of powers seemed more appropriate for Part 2 about the relations between powers, while Allen’s might be a better fit for Part 1 on part-whole relations within a power. In a similar vein, it’s clear that not every essay in the collection is about the mereology of powers—notably Kroll approaches complex powers in terms of the determinable/determinate distinction, Hoffmann-Kolss is concerned with the logical complexity of variables for interventionism, Guo and Tugby sketch an account of collective instantiation, and Morganti explicitly says he’s not concerned with a mereological notion of composition and instead focuses on the factorizability of probabilities for entangled quantum systems. In this respect, the book’s subtitle, “Essays on the Mereology of Powers” is a bit of a misnomer; perhaps “Essays on the Metaphysical Complexity of Powers” would have been more appropriate. After all, understanding the ontological complexity of powers needn’t only be cashed out mereologically, and a research question like this may benefit from looking at the theoretical landscape in several divergent ways.

Overall, there’s much of interest to be gleaned from this book. It covers a wide range of approaches to the question of the metaphysical complexity of powers, both mereological and non-mereological alike. Despite some deviation from the editors’ stated goal of offering a mereological approach to the complexity of powers, I think the book can be framed as having a different and broader aim: to examine the ontological complexity of powers by offering a more metaphysically robust story, one that goes beyond merely saying that powers are individuated by their stimuli or manifestations. With this aim in mind, I think the book shows that there’s quite a bit of potentially fruitful philosophical ground here left to explore.

Koslicki, K. (2008). The Structure of Objects . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Marmodoro, A. (2017). “Power Mereology: Structural Powers Versus Substantial Powers” in

Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives on Downward Causation , Eds. M. Paolini Paoletti, F. Orilia, 110–129. New York: Routledge.

Molnar, G. (2003). Powers: A Study in Metaphysics . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Quine, W.V. (1956). “Quantifiers and Propositional Attitudes”. Journal of Philosophy , 53 (5), 177–187.

Shoemaker, S. (1980). “Causality and Properties” in Time and Cause: Essays Presented to

Richard Taylor , Ed. P. Van Inwagen, Reidel: 109–136.

[1] I will follow the convention set by the editors and several contributors by using “power” and “disposition” interchangeably.

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Parma Heights mayor worried about seniors without power due to storms

• Updated: Aug. 08, 2024, 10:48 a.m.
• | Published: Aug. 08, 2024, 7:31 a.m.

Tuesday’s storm knocked out power at the Educator Senior Apartments in Parma Heights. John Benson/cleveland.com

• John Benson, special to cleveland.com

PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The cleanup continues after Tuesday’s powerful storm that caused widespread damage and power outages throughout Northeast Ohio.

In Parma Heights, Mayor Marie Gallo’s focus the day after was making sure seniors were being looked after.

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Meet Words Unite, an indie bookstore that started on an Army post in Texas

Independent bookstores are the heartbeats of their communities. They provide culture and community, generate local jobs and sales tax revenue, promote literacy and education, champion and center diverse and new authors, connect readers to books in a personal and authentic way, and actively support the right to read and access to books in their communities.

Each week we profile an independent bookstore, sharing what makes each one special and getting their expert and unique book recommendations.

This week we have Words Unite Bookstore in Killeen, Texas.

'Words have the power to unite us all'

Words Unite firmly believes that words have the power to unite us all, and all their programs and partnership are created with this belief in mind.

Although Words Unite has two store locations, they’re not waiting for customers to find them: They also operate a book vending machine and two bookmobiles. As a primarily traveling bookstore, they are constantly out in the community, making connections and bringing books to anyone who wants them.

But they’re not just bringing any books to their community. Words Unite only carries titles written by indie authors.

Words Unite owner, Ashley Marie Booker-Knight , is a veteran and her first brick-and-mortar location was located on the military installation, Fort Cavazos. But her time in the service remains important to her and remains a theme in her store today.

Booker-Knight says her favorite section in the store remains the military stories section, where she’s able to highlight the true stories of the nation’s heroes.

To further the store’s mission, Words Unite recently launched a nonprofit arm called Books for a Cause. Designed to get books into even more hands, Books for a Cause works to donate books wherever they’re needed. By doing so, they hope to help close the gap in literacy access.

"Knowledge is power and we cannot wipe away that power with technology," said Booker-Knight. "Reading expands minds. Everyone has a story, and more people need to read those stories. Local bookstores help you slow the world down and move beyond the challenges.”

Words Unite book recommendations:

"Our Pledge, Our Promise" by Sheri Wall

"21 Days of Positive Speaking" by Ashley Knight

"Camouflaged Sisters" book series

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An Olympics Scene Draws Scorn. Did It Really Parody ‘The Last Supper’?

Some church leaders and politicians have condemned the performance from the opening ceremony for mocking Christianity. Art historians are divided.

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By Yan Zhuang

A performance during the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday has drawn criticism from church leaders and conservative politicians for a perceived likeness to Leonardo da Vinci’s depiction of a biblical scene in “The Last Supper,” with some calling it a “mockery” of Christianity.

The event’s planners and organizers have denied that the sequence was inspired by “The Last Supper,” or that it intended to mock or offend.

In the performance broadcast during the ceremony, a woman wearing a silver, halo-like headdress stood at the center of a long table, with drag queens posing on either side of her. Later, at the same table, a giant cloche lifted, revealing a man, nearly naked and painted blue, on a dinner plate surrounded by fruit. He broke into a song as, behind him, the drag queens danced.

The tableaux drew condemnation among people who saw the images as a parody of “The Last Supper,” the New Testament scene depicted in da Vinci’s painting by the same name. The French Bishops’ Conference, which represents the country’s Catholic bishops, said in a statement that the opening ceremony included “scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity,” and an influential American Catholic, Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota, called it a “gross mockery.”

The performance at the opening ceremony, which took place on and along the Seine on Friday, also prompted a Mississippi-based telecommunications provider, C Spire, to announce that it would pull its advertisements from Olympics broadcasts. Speaker Mike Johnson described the scene as “shocking and insulting to Christian people.”

The opening ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said at the Games’ daily news conference on Saturday that the event was not meant to “be subversive, or shock people, or mock people.” On Sunday, Anne Descamps, the Paris 2024 spokeswoman, said at the daily news conference, “If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

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