“ A man's vocabulary is terribly retentive of evil words, and the images they present cling to his memory and will not loose their hold. ”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Over the Teacups (1891). copy citation
| Author | Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. |
|---|---|
| Source | Over the Teacups |
| Topic | memory evil |
| Date | 1891 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2689/2689-h/2689-h.htm |
Context
“He wants to produce a sensation, and he leaves a permanent disgust not to be got rid of. Who does not remember odious images that can never be washed out from the consciousness which they have stained? A man's vocabulary is terribly retentive of evil words, and the images they present cling to his memory and will not loose their hold. One who has had the mischance to soil his mind by reading certain poems of Swift will never cleanse it to its original whiteness. Expressions and thoughts of a certain character stain the fibre of the thinking organ, and in some degree affect the hue of every idea that passes through the discolored tissues.”
source
