--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is something about words. In expert…" description: "\"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner.\" — Diane Setterfield" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/diane-setterfield-1008_experts_there-is-something-about-words-in-expert_729886.png" --- # There is something about words. In expert hands… ![“There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner.” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/diane-setterfield-1008_experts_there-is-something-about-words-in-expert_729886.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/diane-setterfield-1008_experts_there-is-something-about-words-in-expert_729886.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/diane-setterfield-1008_experts_there-is-something-about-words-in-expert_729886.png) > “There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner.” [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skilled manipulators can use language to control and imprison listeners. **In simple terms:** Words can trap you. Key Takeaway Guard against persuasive language. Themes communication power manipulation Mood cautious aware Type educational warning When to use this quote - political speeches - advertising - personal relationships - media consumption Key Concepts rhetoric psychology control Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt trapped by words? - How can you detect manipulation? A Different Perspective Not all persuasive language is malicious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deftly Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deftly-prisoner-5719194/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Hands Manipulated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-manipulated-3040726/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Manipulated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manipulated/) [Manipulated Deftly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manipulated-deftly-3040727/) [Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/) [Words Expert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-expert-5719195/) ## Related quotes > [There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/there-is-something-about-words-in-expert-hands-manipulated-deftly-2/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“His hands manipulated me. I was a puppet and he was the master. Any string he tugged at brought me nearer to him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-wright/his-hands-manipulated-me-i-was-a-puppet-and-he-was-the-master-any/) [Kenya Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-wright/) > [We can be seduced...by powerful political groups that promise more wealth and lower taxes. Those with power can use clever, psychological tricks and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/we-can-be-seduced-by-powerful-political-groups-that-promise-more/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [“He manipulated love into something perverse, confusing me about what love is, causing me to sexualize friendships and relationships, teaching me without words that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-holloway/he-manipulated-love-into-something-perverse-confusing-me-about-what/) [Monica Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-holloway/) > [I'm not ashamed of my social media following, my Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot, or the tough time I had in my LPGA debut, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paige-spiranac/i-m-not-ashamed-of-my-social-media-following-my-sports-illustrated/) [Paige Spiranac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paige-spiranac/) > [Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/propaganda-works-best-when-those-who-are-being-manipulated-are/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [There was a company that I did a photo shoot for once that manipulated the photo so much, I was like, "That's not even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mila-kunis/there-was-a-company-that-i-did-a-photo-shoot-for-once-that/) [Mila Kunis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mila-kunis/) > [“the chief offense in bad fiction: we sense that characters are being manipulated, forced to do things they would not really do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-chief-offense-in-bad-fiction-we-sense-that-characters-are-being/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“Regardless of your political orientation, if you are reasonably intelligent, you should strongly resent being manipulated. Guileful scoundrels in business, government, and media smugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-befumo/regardless-of-your-political-orientation-if-you-are-reasonably/) [Joseph Befumo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-befumo/) > [Never have so many been manipulated so much by so few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/never-have-so-many-been-manipulated-so-much-by-so-few/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Until you realize how easy it is for your mind to be manipulated, you remain the puppet of someone else's game.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evita-ochel/until-you-realize-how-easy-it-is-for-your-mind-to-be-manipulated-you/) [Evita Ochel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evita-ochel/) > [People are more easily manipulated when they don't have information. If you ensure that kids grow up without basic reading skills, math skills, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/people-are-more-easily-manipulated-when-they-don-t-have-information/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Uninformed people can be easily manipulated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/uninformed-people-can-be-easily-manipulated/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [It's a political and manipulative industry. Actors vie for the same roles, movies are snatched away. Have I ever been manipulated? Yes. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-political-and-manipulative-industry-actors-vie-for-the-same/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The way in which the child is manipulated pulls them into considering the lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-way-in-which-the-child-is-manipulated-pulls-them-into-considering/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) ## More by Diane Setterfield > [“They are more real than the books on the shelves, books that are sketched with the barest hint of a line here and there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/they-are-more-real-than-the-books-on-the-shelves-books-that-are/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/margaret-lea-the-biographer/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He was the first of my ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-was-the-first-of-my-ghosts/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“It was like living entirely inside a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/it-was-like-living-entirely-inside-a-book/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Then something rang a bell in his mind. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/then-something-rang-a-bell-in-his-mind-what/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-better-way-to-get-to-know-someone-than-through-her-choice-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-have-always-been-a-reader-i-have-read-at-every-stage-of-my-life-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Yesterday or the day before, while I had been going about my business, quietly and in private, some unknown person—some stranger—had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/yesterday-or-the-day-before-while-i-had-been-going-about-my-business/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“the Missus stood like a ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/the-missus-stood-like-a-ghost/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/but-perhaps-the-answer-is-to-stop-writing-altogether-for-when-i-do/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Our clients' faces, with the customary outward paleness and inner glow of the book lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-clients-faces-with-the-customary-outward-paleness-and-inner-glow/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-felt-something-move-in-his-chest-as-though-an-organ-had-been/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Still in my coat and hat, I sank onto the stair to read the letter. (I never read without making sure I am in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/still-in-my-coat-and-hat-i-sank-onto-the-stair-to-read-the-letter-i/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-still-believe-in-stories-i-still-forget-myself-when-i-am-in-the/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued "Jane Eyre" over the anonymous stranger...Of course all of Shakespeare was worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-loved-books-more-than-people-of-course-i-valued-jane-eyre/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) [Explore all 292 Diane Setterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## More Experts quotes > [It's a great lesson in modesty that you realize you're illiterate in a field that you think you're an expert in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-wenders/it-s-a-great-lesson-in-modesty-that-you-realize-you-re-illiterate-in/) [Wim Wenders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-wenders/) > [I don't think Alfonso was a big expert on Potter either. 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Anders Ericsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-anders-ericsson/) > [The World Health Organisation has a lot of its medical experts sitting in Geneva while hospitals in Africa have no drugs and desperate patients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-hanson/the-world-health-organisation-has-a-lot-of-its-medical-experts/) [Pauline Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-hanson/) > [The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-yehoshua/the-question-of-boundaries-is-a-major-question-of-the-jewish-people/) [A. B. Yehoshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-yehoshua/) > [Go on - but don't think you can kill my confidence. 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Jing-Nuan Wu has succeeded incompiling this most unique and informative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koji-nakanishi/this-is-an-extraordinary-illustrated-collection-of-chinese/) [Koji Nakanishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koji-nakanishi/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [I thought if I was open and honest, it would help the reader to get open and honest, and they also would realize sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/i-thought-if-i-was-open-and-honest-it-would-help-the-reader-to-get/) [John C. 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