Words can never hurt me?... Hah! Words can destroy someone's life. What about people who irresponsibly lie about someone or an incident or make irresponsible assumptions and pass them along as fact? It can destroy someone's life and career. -- Taylor

Don't you think the last paragraph contradicts your statements in previous paragraphs in some way? Words have a powerful impact on a human mind. It is true that some people are more sensitive and susceptible to such taunts, but I can easily quote many examples when family and colleagues alike and the so-called "well-wishers of ours" had passed such negative remarks about me, which left me shattered. Of course, with the Great God's help and the blessings of the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) I was able to survive and prepare myself for the next day.

As a child when I would go to my mother because my sister said something that made me feel bad she would always respond with "Sticks and stones..."
As an adult I recognized that the times in which I felt the most hurt, the weapon used against was never a stick or a stone, it was instead...words.
As a mother I always told my children "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can break your heart...always think about what words you are using when you are angry."

Comment to Taylor: Apparently you were fortified with the sense of self-worth that allowed you to be able to overcome and survive the impact words had on you. You just may have learned it more from your religious teaching than from your parents. Isn't the main thing here to 'get it?' And you did. You rose above it, no matter what or how! Perhaps that was to be the message of Mr. Josephson. And I'll bet you may have learned an even more important lesson ... how to sensitively and respectfully treat others.

Comment to Jerry Young: What did Taylor say that was so wrong? I understood perfectly what they were saying. Take for instance 3 girls wanting to go to a party their parents forbid them to go to. They make up a story that a man attacked them and raped them. That man sat in prison for 8 months before someone figured out what really happened. Then withheld the information for days. Then decided they should tell the police. That poor man's life and career was ruined. He had to move out-of-state. I hope that he was able to get a job where he finally landed.

I was hurt as a child by others words. I tell my children why they shouldn't be like that to others and how it hurts them.

Also, Patricia is right. Words can break your heart.

I just want to point out that WHO is speaking is just as, if not more than, important as what is being said. "You're too fat" coming from a peer in first grade is one thing but is completely different when it comes from your family, or worse yet – your spouse. It is never okay to put someone down, regardless of how “true” the statement is. I am reminded of the “Words are Weapons 551.3” article which states “honesty does not preclude tact.” I have a person in my life who does not understand this concept which creates a lot of inner turmoil and stress for me. I have tried many ways of getting this person to stop what they are doing and understand how much it hurts, but the message is not getting through. I even sent that article to this person and they replied “that is something I need to work on” but nothing has changed. Those closest to us have more power to hurt with words than a stranger on the street because they know us more intimately. They should be supportive, caring and trustworthy. As Taylor said in the first post, words can “destroy someone’s life” but they can also destroy relationships. It would be a terrible tragedy to end a 10 year marriage with no other issues just because your spouse cannot speak to you respectfully and tactfully. But without respect you cannot have trust and without trust, what kind of relationship do you really have?

This is in response to Pamela
I hope you get to read this. I want to tell you that you are so right when you say that WHO is speaking is far more damaging. We as adults need to be more aware of what we say and what we do. My children and I have been through a lot of pain & sadness associated with hurt feelings over the years but none have lingered so long and as deep as those inflected by my husband and the children’s father.
Three years after my marriage ended, I still feel the pain of his words. Fat, ugly dumb B... were said continuously during our 14 year marriage. My spirit was continually crushed by such disrespectful words that I was unable to be intimate with him as I had the words playing in my head all the time. I felt like I was betraying myself and my children by being with this man. I’d like to say that it is not only words that can hurt more than weapons and can destroy people's lives and relationships, but disrespectful behaviors can be just as damaging.
My husband would walk ahead of my daughter and me in public as if we were not part of him. This behavior destroyed my daughter’s confidence and self-esteem. We could not understand why her father would do this and felt that he was ashamed of us. He would push her aside when she tried to get close to him. I tried to explain to him how his words and behavior were hurting us but he would just shrug it off like water off a duck's back. He had no respect for me as his wife and mother of his children and sadly could not see the damage he was doing to his beautiful daughter. His disrespectful words and actions did destroy the trust that I had put in him and in turn the relationship. Needless to say that the already fragile relationship with his children is now nonexistent.
The only good that has come out of it is that the children have become very sensitive to others' feelings and have been able to reach out and comfort others. It is important to acknowledge this sort of pain in children who have not yet found their own coping methods. I am thankful that my children were able to rise above their own pain to support others.

That "sticks and stones" comment has been taken out of context for years. What is meant is that a person should never physically react to verbal taunting. As a 30-year veteran police officer, if I had physically reacted every time someone verbally taunted me, I would have lost my job, if not gone to jail. Verbal taunts, verbal abuse, and even racial slurs are never a justification for a physical assault.