But how awful would that be? How terrible to live surrounded by the stark, sharp, hollowness of things that simply were enough?
Patrick RothfussRead
Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the profound power of words and names in influencing emotions and actions.
In this quote by Patrick Rothfuss, the author reflects on the immense power that words and names hold in human interaction and emotion. Words are described as mere representations, or 'pale shadows,' of the deeper significance that names carry. While words can invoke strong feelings and reactions—like love or despair—it is the names that encapsulate true essence and power. The ability of words to evoke profound emotions suggests a deeper connection to identity and meaning, indicating that language is a powerful tool in human relationships and emotions.
Themes
WordsPowerNamesEmotionLanguage
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about the impact of communication.
More from Patrick Rothfuss
All quotes →I wanted to tell her that she was the first beautiful thing I had seen in three years. That the sight of her yawning to the back of her hand was enough to drive the breath from me. How I sometimes lost the sense of her words in the sweet fluting of her voice. I wanted to say that if she were with me then somehow nothing could ever be wrong for me again.
Patrick RothfussRead
Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.
Patrick RothfussRead
How odd to watch a mortal kindle / Then to dwindle day by day / Knowing their bright souls are tinder / And the wind will have its way
Patrick RothfussRead
All the truth in the world is held in stories.
Patrick RothfussRead
Music is a proud, temperamental mistress. Give her the time and attention she deserves, and she is yours. Slight her and there will come a day when you call and she will not answer. So I began sleeping less to give her the time she needed.
Patrick RothfussRead
Similar quotes
Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
We so often tend to think our democracies are ruled by procedures and laws, but they are also governed by implicit rules and assumptions and one of them is the ability to feel shame - that you can be shamed.
Rutger BregmanRead
I observe the physician with the same diligence as the disease.
John DonneRead
I believe that men are generally still a little afraid of the dark though the witches are all hung, and Christianity and candles have been introduced.
Anais NinRead
Man has been here 32,000 years. That it took a hundred million years to prepare the world for him is proof that that is what it was done for. I suppose it is, I dunno. If The Eiffel Tower were now to represent the world's age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle knob at its summit would represent man's share of that age; and anybody would perceive that the skin was what the tower was built for. I reckon they would, I dunno.
Mark TwainRead
Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict.
Oswald ChambersRead