--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How could an alphabet—letters that didn't…" description: "\"“How could an alphabet—letters that didn't even mean anything by themselves—be important? But it was important. Our stories, our names, our alphabet. E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/linda-sue-park-17628_alphabet_how-could-an-alphabet-letters-that-didn_3220087.jpg" --- # How could an alphabet—letters that didn't even mean… ![“How could an alphabet—letters that didn't even mean anything by themselves—be important? But it was important. Our stories, our names, our alphabet. Even Uncle's newspaper. It was all about words. If words weren't important, they wouldn't try so hard to take them away.” quote by Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/linda-sue-park-17628_alphabet_how-could-an-alphabet-letters-that-didn_3220087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/linda-sue-park-17628_alphabet_how-could-an-alphabet-letters-that-didn_3220087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/linda-sue-park-17628_alphabet_how-could-an-alphabet-letters-that-didn_3220087.jpg) > ““How could an alphabet—letters that didn't even mean anything by themselves—be important? But it was important. Our stories, our names, our alphabet. Even Uncle's newspaper. It was all about words. If words weren't important, they wouldn't try so hard to take them away.”” [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words shape identity and memory; even simple letters become powerful symbols of culture and resistance. **In simple terms:** Words give meaning and power. Key Takeaway Protect language, cherish stories. Themes identity memory resistance culture language Mood reflective defiant Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - family histories - media censorship - personal storytelling Key Concepts symbolism narrative power social control Questions to Reflect On - How do you preserve language under oppression? - What role do everyday words play in your identity? A Different Perspective Words can be manipulated to control thought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) [Alphabet Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet-letters-5171548/) [Alphabet Uncle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet-uncle-6050413/) [Mean Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-important-571677/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Weren Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weren-important-1773677/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [Listen baby, Muver love you. Muver not dumb. Listen baby: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. Thas the alphabet. Twenty- six letters in all. Them letters make up words.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sapphire/listen-baby-muver-love-you-muver-not-dumb-listen-baby/) [Sapphire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sapphire/) > [“The things that had seemed important to a twenty-five-year-old weren’t important to a thirty-year-old. Now, life had meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-burch/the-things-that-had-seemed-important-to-a-twenty-five-year-old-weren/) [Heather Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-burch/) > [If someone is quick to give up on you, then you really weren't even that important in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/if-someone-is-quick-to-give-up-on-you-then-you-really-weren-t-even/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [If winning weren't important nobody would keep score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/if-winning-weren-t-important-nobody-would-keep-score/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [I kind of lost myself for a couple years and got caught up in the things that weren't important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scheana-shay/i-kind-of-lost-myself-for-a-couple-years-and-got-caught-up-in-the/) [Scheana Shay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scheana-shay/) > [I saw that animals were important. I saw that plants were even more important. I was also to learn that compared to many of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-marshall-thomas/i-saw-that-animals-were-important-i-saw-that-plants-were-even-more/) [Elizabeth Marshall Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-marshall-thomas/) > [When someone comes to mean something important to you, you know it deep down to the bone. You are that important someone to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-someone-comes-to-mean-something-important-to-you-you-know-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just because something might not have a deep philosophical meaning doesn't mean it's not important or relevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grimes/just-because-something-might-not-have-a-deep-philosophical-meaning/) [Grimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grimes/) > [I mean, the most important thing to me is imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-walton/i-mean-the-most-important-thing-to-me-is-imagination/) [Rob Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-walton/) > [If sumone waits for yew… it doesn't mean that ... they have nothiN' else to do.. it Just mean that nothing else is.. MORE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-d-r-l-testament/if-sumone-waits-for-yew-it-doesn-t-mean-that-they-have-nothin-else-to/) [Junior Dè Rèál Testament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junior-d-r-l-testament/) > [“Just because it says URGENT doesn’t necessarily mean it’s important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/just-because-it-says-urgent-doesn-t-necessarily-mean-it-s-important/) [Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/) > [“It does not mean much to be important. The most important man at a burial is dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-langenhoven/it-does-not-mean-much-to-be-important-the-most-important-man-at-a/) [C.J. Langenhoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-langenhoven/) > [Just because something is easy to measure doesn't mean it's important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/just-because-something-is-easy-to-measure-doesn-t-mean-it-s-important/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [What do you mean, something important? It's the middle of the night! -Sandstorm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-hunter/what-do-you-mean-something-important-it-s-the-middle-of-the-night/) [Erin Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-hunter/) > [If someone waits for u .. it doesn't mean that .. they have nothing else to do .. It just mean .. that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/if-someone-waits-for-u-it-doesn-t-mean-that-they-have-nothing-else-to/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) ## More by Linda Sue Park > [“One step at a time, one day at a time, just today, just this day to get through.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/one-step-at-a-time-one-day-at-a-time-just-today-just-this-day-to-get/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [Libraries hold the wisdom of the world and the stories of the ages - available to everyone, free of charge!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/libraries-hold-the-wisdom-of-the-world-and-the-stories-of-the-ages/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [“I have chosen the way of my death, which is something few of us are privileged to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/i-have-chosen-the-way-of-my-death-which-is-something-few-of-us-are/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [A mistake made with good in your heart is still a mistake, but it is one for which you must forgive yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/a-mistake-made-with-good-in-your-heart-is-still-a-mistake-but-it-is/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [My son and I discovered Terry Pratchett's books together, when he was about eleven years old. He'd be reading on his own and would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/my-son-and-i-discovered-terry-pratchett-s-books-together-when-he-was/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [You burn the paper, but not the words. You silence the words, but not the thoughts. You kill the thoughts only if you kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/you-burn-the-paper-but-not-the-words-you-silence-the-words-but-not/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [I enjoy my family a lot. I have active teenagers, and they're in soccer and choral events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/i-enjoy-my-family-a-lot-i-have-active-teenagers-and-they-re-in-soccer/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [In my family and among Korean-Americans, there just is no occasion that people would get together without bibimbap. It's something that people eat when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/in-my-family-and-among-korean-americans-there-just-is-no-occasion/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [“Foxes were dreaded animals. They were not large or fierce, like the bears and tigers that roamed the mountains, but they were known to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/foxes-were-dreaded-animals-they-were-not-large-or-fierce-like-the/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [If you're trying to write about very strong horror, very strong fear or very strong emotion, it's easy to overwrite it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/if-you-re-trying-to-write-about-very-strong-horror-very-strong-fear/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [What I like most: Reading well-written sources that take me to another world for hours at a time - and being able to call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/what-i-like-most-reading-well-written-sources-that-take-me-to-another/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [If a man is keeping an idea to himself, and that idea is taken by stealth or trickery-I say it is stealing. But once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/if-a-man-is-keeping-an-idea-to-himself-and-that-idea-is-taken-by/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [ “\[W\]hat people truly desire is access to the knowledge and information that ultimately lead to a better life--the collected wisdom of the ages found… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/w-hat-people-truly-desire-is-access-to-the-knowledge-and-information/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [With a book called 'Keeping Score,' I really did want to write a book about the Korean War, because I felt that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/with-a-book-called-keeping-score-i-really-did-want-to-write-a-book/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [I often have trouble falling asleep at night, so when I'm lying in bed I think up stories. That's where I do a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/i-often-have-trouble-falling-asleep-at-night-so-when-i-m-lying-in-bed/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) [Explore all 36 Linda Sue Park quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) ## More Alphabet quotes > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, — whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-have-thought-that-wild-flowers-might-be-the-alphabet-of-angels/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It s the letter I use to spell yuzz a ma tuzz. You ll be sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/my-alphabet-starts-with-this-letter-called-yuzz-it-s-the-letter-i-use/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [I cannot find it in me to fear a man who took ten years a learning of his alphabet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-cannot-find-it-in-me-to-fear-a-man-who-took-ten-years-a-learning-of/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Why' is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it. The alphabet does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/why-is-the-only-question-that-bothers-people-enough-to-have-an-entire/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I used to have a little saying I used when people said, 'What are your priorities?' I'd give them a bit of government alphabet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hayden/i-used-to-have-a-little-saying-i-used-when-people-said-what-are-your/) [Michael Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hayden/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The visual power of the phonetic alphabet is the translate other languages into itself is part of its power to invade right hemisphere (oral)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-visual-power-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-is-the-translate-other/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Architecture is the alphabet of giants; it is the largest set of symbols ever made to meet the eyes of men. A tower stands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/architecture-is-the-alphabet-of-giants-it-is-the-largest-set-of/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I've always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet, ... The White T.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-armani/i-ve-always-thought-of-the-t-shirt-as-the-alpha-and-omega-of-the/) [Giorgio Armani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-armani/) > [Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to-help-people-organize-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [One who has not only the four Ss, which are required in every good lover, but even the whole alphabet. as for example¦ Agreeable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-who-has-not-only-the-four-ss-which-are-required-in-every-good/) [Miguel De Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [New York doesn't exactly have neighborhoods, the way most cities do. What it has is closer to distinct and separate villages, some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/new-york-doesn-t-exactly-have-neighborhoods-the-way-most-cities-do/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) [Browse all 336 Alphabet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How could an alphabet—letters that didn't even mean anything by themselves—be important? But it was important. Our stories, our names, our alphabet. Even Uncle's newspaper. It was all about words. 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