--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Words were medicine; they were magic and…" description: "\"Words were medicine; they were magic and invisible. They came from nothing into sound and meaning. They were beyond price; they could neither be bought..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/n-scott-momaday-12844_invisible_words-were-medicine-they-were-magic-and_1636398.png" --- # Words were medicine; they were magic and invisible. They… ![“Words were medicine; they were magic and invisible. They came from nothing into sound and meaning. They were beyond price; they could neither be bought nor sold.” quote by N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/n-scott-momaday-12844_invisible_words-were-medicine-they-were-magic-and_1636398.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/n-scott-momaday-12844_invisible_words-were-medicine-they-were-magic-and_1636398.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/n-scott-momaday-12844_invisible_words-were-medicine-they-were-magic-and_1636398.png) > “Words were medicine; they were magic and invisible. They came from nothing into sound and meaning. They were beyond price; they could neither be bought nor sold.” [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language holds transformative power, shaping reality beyond material value. **In simple terms:** Words are powerful and priceless. Key Takeaway Use words wisely to heal and inspire. Themes language power transformation Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - therapy - writing - public speaking - teaching Key Concepts metaphor value communication Questions to Reflect On - How can you harness words for positive change? - When have words healed you? A Different Perspective Words can be misused or misunderstood, reducing impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [The three most dangerous words in medicine: in my experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-crislip/the-three-most-dangerous-words-in-medicine-in-my-experience/) Mark Crislip > [“You don't need magic to be invisible in a town like this. Being poor works just the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-hayden/you-don-t-need-magic-to-be-invisible-in-a-town-like-this-being-poor/) [C.M. Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-hayden/) > [Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power, Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/architects-mostly-work-for-privileged-people-people-who-have-money/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) > [How do you turn the invisible into the visible? The first step is to define your dream precisely; the only limit to what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/how-do-you-turn-the-invisible-into-the-visible-the-first-step-is-to/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“If you come anywhere near my daughter, I will see to it that you are taken apart piece by bloody piece. Do I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/if-you-come-anywhere-near-my-daughter-i-will-see-to-it-that-you-are/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Jesus' kingdom was not like the popular expectation. He used the phrase 'kingdom of God' with a different meaning. His kingdom was not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-harpur/jesus-kingdom-was-not-like-the-popular-expectation-he-used-the-phrase/) [Tom Harpur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-harpur/) > [Inequality is pervasive but invisible. It's hard to see. You need a sort of tool to make it visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hito-steyerl/inequality-is-pervasive-but-invisible-it-s-hard-to-see-you-need-a/) [Hito Steyerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hito-steyerl/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by N. Scott Momaday > [It is here that I can concentrate my mind upon the Remembered Earth. It is here that I am most conscious of being, here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/it-is-here-that-i-can-concentrate-my-mind-upon-the-remembered-earth/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [“He wondered what his sorrow was and could not remember.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/he-wondered-what-his-sorrow-was-and-could-not-remember/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [I wonder if, in the dark night of the sea, the octopus dreams of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/i-wonder-if-in-the-dark-night-of-the-sea-the-octopus-dreams-of-me/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [Sometimes, I think the best kind of poem is one in which there is an acute balance between what is humorous and that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/sometimes-i-think-the-best-kind-of-poem-is-one-in-which-there-is-an/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth. He ought to give himself up to a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/once-in-his-life-a-man-ought-to-concentrate-his-mind-upon-the/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [My father was a painter and he taught art. He once said to me, 'I never knew an Indian child who could not draw.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/my-father-was-a-painter-and-he-taught-art-he-once-said-to-me-i-never/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [“If coupling should but make us whole / And of the selfsame mind and soul, / Then couple let's in celebration; / We have contained the population.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/if-coupling-should-but-make-us-whole-and-of-the-selfsame-mind-and/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [In the beginning was the word, and it was spoken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/in-the-beginning-was-the-word-and-it-was-spoken/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance they could see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/the-kiowas-reckoned-their-stature-by-the-distance-they-could-see/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [“Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth. He ought to give himself up to a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/once-in-his-life-a-man-ought-to-concentrate-his-mind-upon-the-2/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [Indians are marvelous storytellers. In some ways, that oral tradition is stronger than the written tradition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/indians-are-marvelous-storytellers-in-some-ways-that-oral-tradition/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where Creation was begun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/your-imagination-comes-to-life-and-this-you-think-is-where-creation/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [As far as I am concerned, poetry is a statement concerning the human condition, composed in verse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/as-far-as-i-am-concerned-poetry-is-a-statement-concerning-the-human/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [It's a landscape that has to be seen to be believed. And as I say on occasion, it may have to be believed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/it-s-a-landscape-that-has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed-and-as-i-say-on/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [There was only the dark infinity in which nothing was. And something happened. At the distance of a star something happened, and everything began.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/there-was-only-the-dark-infinity-in-which-nothing-was-and-something/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) [Explore all 53 N. Scott Momaday quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) ## More Invisible quotes > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Inequality is pervasive but invisible. It's hard to see. You need a sort of tool to make it visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hito-steyerl/inequality-is-pervasive-but-invisible-it-s-hard-to-see-you-need-a/) [Hito Steyerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hito-steyerl/) > [Jesus' kingdom was not like the popular expectation. He used the phrase 'kingdom of God' with a different meaning. His kingdom was not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-harpur/jesus-kingdom-was-not-like-the-popular-expectation-he-used-the-phrase/) [Tom Harpur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-harpur/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“If you come anywhere near my daughter, I will see to it that you are taken apart piece by bloody piece. Do I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/if-you-come-anywhere-near-my-daughter-i-will-see-to-it-that-you-are/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [How do you turn the invisible into the visible? The first step is to define your dream precisely; the only limit to what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/how-do-you-turn-the-invisible-into-the-visible-the-first-step-is-to/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power, Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/architects-mostly-work-for-privileged-people-people-who-have-money/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) > [With the search for the Higgs, we're involved with 5% of the visual universe, and now we have 95% of the invisible universe that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-miller/with-the-search-for-the-higgs-we-re-involved-with-5-of-the-visual/) [Steve Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-miller/) > [When we pray, we must begin by conceiving God in full and vigorous images, but we must go on to acknowledge the inadequacy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-farrer/when-we-pray-we-must-begin-by-conceiving-god-in-full-and-vigorous/) [Austin Farrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-farrer/) Browse all 2,346 Invisible quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Words were medicine; they were magic and invisible. 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