Whoever defines the word, defines the world.
As children we hoard and gloat over words. Words give ownership: we name our world and we claim it...Children trust the power of words.
The man molds the idol and then the idol molds the man.
I had always enjoyed the title of Commander-in-Chief until I was informed ... that the only forces that cannot be transferred from Washington without my express permission are the members of the Marine Corps Band. Those are the only forces I have. I want it announced that we propose to hold the White House against all odds at least for some time to come.
Man's achievements rest upon the use of symbols.... we must consider ourselves as a symbolic, semantic class of life, and those who rule the symbols, rule us.
We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges.
You have but to know an object by its proper name for it to lose its dangerous magic.
Words have users, but as well, users have words. And it is the users that establish the world's realities.
