'I think one's feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results.'
Which boils down to this: we can utter beautiful words until we're blue in the face (don't you love a nice cliché?), but if our talk is not supported by actions which demonstrate the truth of what we say, it's just wasted energy.
Take for example the phrase 'I love you': three simple words that declare a profound emotion. If these words are not supported by loving actions, however, they are negated and rendered 'all hollow, servile, insincere' (thanks Emily Brontë).
Has our carelessness with language in this way become more prevalent? Perhaps.
Language is being devalued by every man and his blog.
The internet offers us all the ability to sermonise from our virtual soapboxes. It's easy to develop the habit of prolific wordiness.
We bandy around words, our main currency of communication, like lottery winners because now more than ever, we have plenty of ways to 'spend up big' for all to see. In doing so, we risk losing sight of our language's nuances and subtleties. Quantity comes at quality's expense.
If we had fewer opportunities to share our words, would we spend more time crafting our statements to reflect our thoughts and feelings more accurately?
And would this habit of care extend to our conversations?
Our words currency loses value every day. In our relationships, we may say words that we don't quite mean, and we may not say what we really mean.
Ms Nightingale's statement reminds us to demonstrate the truth of our declarations. Let actions be the proof; hold back on the verbosity.
What do you think?
Remember to mind your language (and be vigilant for verbiage).
