Blow Quote by Bernard of Clairvaux
“The spiteful tongue strikes a deadly blow at charity in all who hear him speak and, so far as it can, destroys root and branch, not only in the immediate hearers but also in all others to whom the slander, flying from lip to lip, is afterwards repeated.”
About This Quote
Source Sermon: Medieval Christian teaching, 12th century
Malicious speech harms both the speaker’s audience and the broader community, spreading corruption.
In simple terms: Slander damages everyone who hears it.
Key Takeaway
Guard speech against harmful words.
Themes
speech
morality
community
damage
Mood
cautionary
reflective
Type
sermon
philosophical
When to use this quote
- religious preaching
- public discourse
- media commentary
Key Concepts
ethics
social contagion
Questions to Reflect On
- What motivates harmful speech?
- How can societies repair damage from slander?
A Different Perspective
Even indirect slander can have lasting effects.
![“[President Donald Trump] is doing exactly what he promised to do.When you come in as an outsider and you own no one anything and you're going to disrupt a bureaucracy that is so entrenched that the - you've got to just get it out by root and branch, the tentacles are so deep and so clinging to…” quote by Kellyanne Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bc5/kellyanne-conway-1450_branches_president-donald-trump-is-doing-exactly_1910225.jpg)
