Emily Dickinson's Quote Interpretation

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Emily Dickinson is an author, that once wrote a quote I felt was very puzzling. I read the quote quite a few times, when finally I understood the message the author was trying to get across. The quote is " A word is dead When it is said, I say, it just Begins to live that day." Due to my personal experiences, I can say I agree and disagree with this quote. I believe what ones says may be immortal or may die out once said, but it all depends on your audience. It also depends on how you combine the words together, if using more than one. Another important factor would be how powerful the words are. Two words can have the same meaning, but when said, one may sound weaker than another. As for example, if you go deep into the roots of the words hate and dislike you'd see they both carry the same meaning, yet hate sounds a lot stronger and more powerful than dislike.

I agree with her quote because when I was in Junior High School I had a major crush on someone in my class; I thought what I felt for this person was true love. I would go home and just have beautiful thoughts of what would happen if I confessed my love. I imagined myself telling him I loved him and having him tell me he loved me as well. I saw us in the future becoming a happy couple. As long as I didn't really tell him I loved him, the words I love you were immortal, because as long as I didn't say it to him I could pretend and create a beautiful future of us together. Unfortunately, I built up enough confidence to confess, and I told this boy who was also my friend, that I loved him. Unlike I imagined, there weren't any positive effects. We didn't become a happy couple and our friendship tore apart. Maybe I chose the wrong words to express my feelings. Maybe I should've taken it a little easier on him by saying that I liked him, instead of saying I loved him. Simply because the words I love you might've been too strong for him to handle. Or he might've just been the wrong person to begin with, the wrong audience. Point being is that the outcome remained negative. Which is why I say once I said the words " I love you" they died.

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