Like a trained surgeon who is careful where he cuts, parents, too, need to become skilled in the use of words. Because words are like knives. They can inflict, if not physical, many painful emotional wounds.
Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child, Introduction (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]
(Source)
Quotations about:
verbal abuse
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
BENEDICK: She speaks poniards and every word stabs.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, sc. 1, l. 244 (2.1.244) (1598)
(Source)
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“Rip Van Winkle,” The Sketch Book (1820)
The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword: but not so many as have fallen by the tongue.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 28:17-18 [KJV (1611)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
The stroke of a whip maketh a blue mark: but the stroke of the tongue will break the bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have perished by their own tongue.
[DRA (1899); 28:21-22]
A stroke of the whip raises a weal, but a stroke of the tongue breaks bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but many more have fallen by the tongue.
[JB (1966)]
A whip can raise a welt, but a vicious tongue can break bones. More people have died as a result of loose talk than were ever killed by swords.
[GNT (1976)]
The blow of a whip raises a welt, but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]
