One word is too often profaned For me to profane it; One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker refuses to use a specific word or feeling because it is often misused or rejected wrongly.
- In plain terms
- I will not use that word because others misuse it.
- What can you take from it?
- Some words carry too much misuse to be used freely.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Which words feel overused?
- How do you value language?
Another view
Avoiding a word does not prevent its meaning from being lost.
More from Percy Bysshe Shelley
Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory - Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves, when the rose is dead…
Permalink to quote #42 The desire of the moth for the star, Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow.
Permalink to quote #44 Rough wind, the moanest loud Grief too sad for song; Wild wind, when sullen cloud Knells all the night long; Sad storm, whose tears are vain, Bare woods, whose…
Permalink to quote #41
Related quotes
Let us redeem our great words from base uses. Let that no longer call itself Love, which knows that it is not free!
Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair quote #2 The passion for seeking the truth for truth's sake...can be kept alive only if we continue to seek the truth for truth's sake.
Franz BoasFranz Boas quote #1 'Don't ever ask me for a true statement again!'
Evan MechamEvan Mecham quote #1