“Loose tongues are worse than wicked hands”, Jewish proverb
“A knife-would heals but a tongue wound festers, Turkish proverb
“The wound of a dagger heals, but that of the tongue, never”, Armenian proverb
I had a good friend in eight grade. He didn’t do well in his studies so being a good friend, I helped him with his homework and exams. I let him copy my work and cheat on the exam. One day we got caught. To my great surprise, he blamed me for everything. When I confronted him after the exam, he blamed me for getting caught and used everything he knew about me to strike me where it hurts the most. The experience left me feeling betrayed and emotionally bruised. The next day, he wanted to help me with another assignment. I ignored him because the friendship was over from my point of view. From that day onwards, he did very poorly in school. Just briefly mentioning this experience brings back the pain. That is the power of words. They keep stabbing and injuring repeatedly.
The only people who know enough about us to emotionally bruise us are people who know where it hurts the most. These people are known as friends and family. They are close enough to know so much about us. A passerby usually wouldn’t know where to verbally strike us.
The worst thing you can do to someone you care about is to use their weakness against them. When you do this, you are causing serious damage. They in turn also know enough about you to return the favor. Be grateful if the person chooses not to strike back because the temporary pleasure of speaking your mind could soon turn into a very hurtful experience. Regardless of how the person reacts, you know that your relationship is at a new low. The best thing would be to apologize immediately and explain that you didn’t mean to say that. It came out wrong. You didn’t mean to hurt them.
Around the year 1200, a man called Temujin lost a battle against his half brother and was captured and sold into slavery. A Chinese prince purchased him and placed him in a zoo. Day after day, people came and ridiculed him. Verbal injuries multiplied and festered. One day his wife found him, killed the guards, and freed him. A few years later Temujin man came back leading an army of Mongol warriors. He killed everyone in the town and neighboring areas. By that time, Temujin had assumed the name Genghis Khan.
Beware of how you injure someone with your words.