Language Quote by Rick Moody
““Words are the oldest information storage and retrieval system ever devised. Words are probably older than the cave paintings in France, words have been here for tens of thousands of years longer than film, moving pictures, video, and digital video, and words will likely be here after those media too. When the electromagnetic pulse comes in the wake of the nuclear blast? Those computers and digital video cameras and videotape recorders that are not melted outright will be plastic and metal husks used to prop open doors. Not so with the utterances of tongues. Words will remain, and the highly complicated and idiosyncratic accounts assembled from them will provide us with the dark news about the blast. The written word will remain, scribbled on collapsed highway overpasses, as a testament to love and rage, as evidence of the wanderers in the ruin.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Enduring Power of Words, 2015
Words outlast physical media, surviving catastrophes and preserving human experience beyond technological collapse.
In simple terms: Words survive when tech fails.
Key Takeaway
Preserve spoken and written language.
Themes
memory
survival
communication
Mood
reflective
serious
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- disaster preparedness
- historical documentation
- education
- archival work
Key Concepts
epistemology
media theory
post‑apocalypse
Questions to Reflect On
- What role will oral history play after digital collapse?
- How can we protect language in crises?
A Different Perspective
Relies on oral tradition which can also be lost.
