“But, of course, it’s this experience that waits for us all. It’s inside our brothers and sisters, daughters and sons and lovers. This document presumes nothing about the future; it is strictly a record of the past, of what we looked like before, and how we got here. Are words our creation, or did they create us? And who are we in a world without them? Are there wilder, more verdant fields out beyond the boundaries of language, where those of us who are silent now wander? Each of us must find our own path through these questions. We enter and leave this word in silence, after all, and everything else is simply how we walk that middle passage.”  ~ page 19 of The Silent History by Eli Horowitz, Matthew Derby, and Kevin Moffett

Wow, what a quote! This passage is in the beginning of the novel Silent History, at the end of the prologue, I think. It asks such great questions, and made me question something I thought I was sure of. Prior to reading this book I resolutely believed that language was something that opened doors and opportunities for people and society as a whole. Never did I once even consider the idea that it was preventing us from reaching our full potential! While my belief is still in my original opinion, it was really interesting to explore and contemplate this other side of the debate.

Where do you stand on this topic? What quotes have you recently discovered? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours

HOLLY