Words hold so much power. Words, in themselves, are extremely potent. They can make someone fall in love with you, fill eyes with tears, instigate innovation and change, hold a higher meaning, make humans connect with one another and hold countries together or tear them apart. People say that actions speak louder than words and I would not argue the point, but have they thought that words are just as equivalent to actions and that it should be an even playing field between the two? Sure, sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can hurt you. Promises are like chains and they can tie you down because you want to believe them. Lies are like scars that you want to hide and you try to hide, but you still know they are there. Words can hurt and cut and destroy, but they can also heal and love and touch and inspire. Words are like people: they communicate and live and they can hurt and they can heal. Words are breathed into the world by people, but after they've been spoken, their power is still there. Words created revolutions and wars and marriages and unions and victories. Words created civil rights and laws and actions and rebirth. Words elected presidents to rule nations and sent prisoners to death row. Words made you trust your spouse and understand their past, while still accepting them. Words created a character within you and helped you relay that character to those on the outside who don't see or know what is inside you. Words make up books and novels and poems and speeches that revolutionize a nation. Words brought into our existence the creation of laws that would protect humans, create vows that would connect two humans to one another for eternity, the story of how the earth was born or made, legends of humanities past and hopes for the future. Words are created by people and spoken by people and understood by people, but words create who a person is and who a person will become. Words can make you appear nice or kind or cruel or heinous. Words can make you seem understanding or loving or instill in you a sense of sympathy for others. Words can get you out of a bad situation and into a good one or heighten the intensity and misfortune of an already bad occurrence. Words are like weapons with intelligence and emotions and I guess when you think about it, that is how we are, in a way, too. This is why you must think before you speak; you must understand the potency of words and sentences and paragraphs. You must know how words can bring so much pain and suffering, but choose to use them only to bring love and kindness into the world.