--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I believe there is power in words, power…" description: "\"“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.”\" — Jesmyn Ward" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png" --- # I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our… ![“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.” quote by Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png) > ““I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.”” [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words hold power to assert existence and share lived experience, shaping reality. **In simple terms:** Words give power to existence. Key Takeaway Use words to claim your story. Themes expression identity language Mood reflective determined Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - writing - activism - storytelling Key Concepts literature philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you choose words that empower? - What stories need to be told now? A Different Perspective Words can be misused or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [“People have the power we give them. Words have the power we give them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whoopi-goldberg/people-have-the-power-we-give-them-words-have-the-power-we-give-them/) [Whoopi Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whoopi-goldberg/) > [Your words have power. Find words that unite. Find words that unify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-luntz/your-words-have-power-find-words-that-unite-find-words-that-unify/) [Frank Luntz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-luntz/) > [“The power of words is the power of change. Like a flood in the desert a great story surges into our lives and upsets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-alistar/the-power-of-words-is-the-power-of-change-like-a-flood-in-the-desert/) [Luke Alistar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-alistar/) > [Words have power. Words created this universe... Everything started with the Word. The Bible says, 'In the beginning was the word.' In the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-sanchez/words-have-power-words-created-this-universe-everything-started-with/) [Bo Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-sanchez/) > [Words are not in the power of men; men are in the power of words. Every time we open our mouths, a thousand dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-bahr/words-are-not-in-the-power-of-men-men-are-in-the-power-of-words-every/) [Hermann Bahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-bahr/) > [“Our words have not the power of the words that become Vedas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-words-have-not-the-power-of-the-words-that-become-vedas/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“Words are power. The more words you know and can recognize, use, define, understand, the more power you will have as a human being...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quraysh-ali-lansana-georgia-a-popoff/words-are-power-the-more-words-you-know-and-can-recognize-use-define/) Quraysh Ali Lansana & Georgia A. Popoff > [“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/words-are-pale-shadows-of-forgotten-names-as-names-have-power-words/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Words were power, words tried to change you, to shape bridges of longing that no one could ever really cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/words-were-power-words-tried-to-change-you-to-shape-bridges-of/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [Chloe turned to Vetch. The poet said gently, "You see, you do have power. Words give you power, to create or destroy." His eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-fisher/chloe-turned-to-vetch-the-poet-said-gently-you-see-you-do-have-power/) [Catherine Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-fisher/) > [No man, no power, can bind the action of wizardry or still the words of power. For they are the very words of Making,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/no-man-no-power-can-bind-the-action-of-wizardry-or-still-the-words-of/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [There's a power in words. There's a power in being able to explain and describe and articulate what you know and feel and believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chapman/there-s-a-power-in-words-there-s-a-power-in-being-able-to-explain-and/) [Tracy Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chapman/) > [Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/words-are-pale-shadows-of-forgotten-names-as-names-have-power-words-2/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't believe in the power of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-leary/i-don-t-believe-in-the-power-of-words/) [Denis Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-leary/) > [“If you believe in the power of your own words, you don't need to quote others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicol/if-you-believe-in-the-power-of-your-own-words-you-don-t-need-to-quote/) David Nicol ## More by Jesmyn Ward > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-voodoo-as-a-spiritual-tradition-has-been-demonized-for/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [There's so much I love about home, but then there's a lot that I can acknowledge that I dislike about home. And acknowledging that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/there-s-so-much-i-love-about-home-but-then-there-s-a-lot-that-i-can/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“The dream of her was the glow of a spent fire on a cold night: warm and welcoming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-dream-of-her-was-the-glow-of-a-spent-fire-on-a-cold-night-warm/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [The first writer that I think of immediately that I studied with at Michigan is Peter Ho Davies. He was really important to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/the-first-writer-that-i-think-of-immediately-that-i-studied-with-at/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like so much of what happened in the Delta over the decades since slavery was abolished seems much closer in the Delta,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-feel-like-so-much-of-what-happened-in-the-delta-over-the-decades/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Vines catch my arms, my head; we tear through until we break out into the clearing before the fence, the field, the barn, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/vines-catch-my-arms-my-head-we-tear-through-until-we-break-out-into/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Before all the little mean things she told me gathered and gathered and lodged like grit in a skinned knee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/before-all-the-little-mean-things-she-told-me-gathered-and-gathered/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [People give the South a bad rap. It's often stereotyped as backwards and close-minded and dogmatic, and all of those things have been true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/people-give-the-south-a-bad-rap-it-s-often-stereotyped-as-backwards/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [By the time I wrote my memoir, 'Men We Reaped,' I had been running from writing it for a long time. When the events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/by-the-time-i-wrote-my-memoir-men-we-reaped-i-had-been-running-from/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-was-the-only-black-girl-at-a-small-private/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [She was the murderous mother who cut us to the bone but left us alive, left us naked and bewildered as wrinkled newborn babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/she-was-the-murderous-mother-who-cut-us-to-the-bone-but-left-us-alive/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-people-who-read-my-books-feel-empathy-for-us-and-really-see-us/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When I was writing my first novel, 'Where the Line Bleeds,' which had young black men as its main characters, I was very invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-writing-my-first-novel-where-the-line-bleeds-which-had/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“Lot of folks was in there for stealing food because everybody was poor and starving, and even though White people couldn’t get your work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/lot-of-folks-was-in-there-for-stealing-food-because-everybody-was/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) [Explore all 242 Jesmyn Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/) [Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) TimBur > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/) [Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Words can kill you trust towards someone, mind you language people, every reaction had its consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-can-kill-you-trust-towards-someone-mind-you-language-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) [Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesmyn Ward" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power-in-asserting-our-existence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power-in-asserting-our-existence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/jesmyn-ward-1426_language_i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power_151480.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.” — Jesmyn Ward", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jesmyn Ward", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I believe there is power in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power-in-asserting-our-existence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power-in-asserting-our-existence/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```