Words. Words. Words.
Words have the power to lift a person from the depths of depression.
Words have the capacity to change a person's point of view.
Words have the force to pull someone down.
Using the right words, one can help someone in their current dilemma.
On the other hand, with the wrong words, one can also drown another person more.
Suddenly I had the urge to review some misused quotations my friend would often lecture me about, and today I would want to share them to you guys as well. Here are the three quotations she would always nag me about other people misusing it.
- "A jack of all trades is a master of none"
Usually when we see someone trying to become a jack of all trades, experiencing almost everything, trying out each and every activity possible, we discourage them by telling them this quote. Not knowing the original quotation, "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times is better than a master of one" which whether you like it or not, is a direct contradiction to what the people say nowadays. Because it shows that diversifying yourself in being engaged with a lot of things can prove useful when something happens. Using context as a scout, it allows you to always be as much as possible ready for anything, anywhere.
- "Blood is thicker than water"
We normally hear this being told to rebellious people who choose friends rather than their family. "Blood is thicker than water", when one hears this, normally you would really think that family ties bear more weight than the ties you have with your friends. But the original quotation is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" where again, shows the exact opposite of what people use to lecture people about loving your family more than your friends. But don't get the wrong idea. The original quotation didn't mean to squander your family and only focus on your friends, it just means that the ties you are given a choice to make would definitely bear more weight than a relationship you weren't given a chance to choose. You are able to choose your friends but not your family. This original quotation's purpose was to make sure that the relationships you choose to partake in is a right one.
- "Money is the root of all evil"
Whether you're a religious person or not, surely you have heard or used this quotation. You would normally say this to those who try to earn more money by sacrificing some time to rest or engage socially with friends or family. Well, since this is quoted from the bible. The exact verse says that "The love of money is the root of evil". Yes, you read that correctly, the root of all evil is not money, but the love of money. The moment your greed takes over, that is what is then known as the root of all evil. It doesn't hurt to earn more money, as long as you're doing it for the ones you love. On contrary of earning money for the greed of it, that's where it all goes wrong.
There are other misused quotations out there, what are the ones you know? Let's share them to the world.
Special thanks to:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-phrases-youve-been-misquoting - for confirming the quotations I know that are misused.
Hawk Nelson's Words (Lyric Video) - for the cover photo for this post.