Saturday Quote: Peter Kreeft on Power of Language


“Euphemisms blind us to reality. Death becomes merely “passing away.” Killing unborn babies becomes “terminating pregnancy.” Copulation becomes “going to bed with.” Genocide becomes “population control.” Sin becomes “antisocial behavior.” Change the language, and you change people’s perception of reality…. Language is more than labels; language is a choice of a way of thinking and therefore of living, of existing. Our very mode of being is determined by our language.”[1]


[1] Peter Kreeft “Telling the Truth” Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions (Cincinnati, OH: Servant, 1990), 139. Print.

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