Things were first made, then words. — Words

"A very great part of the mischiefs that vex this world arises from words."

"What if my words Were meant for deeds."

"Without approval and without scorn, but carefully studying the sentences word by word, one should trace them in the Discourses (Sutta) and verify them by the Discipline (Vinaya). If they are neither traceable in the Discourses nor verifiable by the Discipline, one must conclude thus: ‘Certainly, this is not the Blessed One’s utterance; this has been misunderstood by that bhikkhu — or by that community, or by those elders, or by that elder.’ In that way, bhikkhus, you should reject it."

"Our words have wings, but fly not where we would."

"What art thou? Have not I An arm as big as thine? a heart as big? Thy words, I grant, are bigger, for I wear My dagger in my mouth."

"Purity of spirit lies at the beginning of things, there where the first stirrings set in, where conceptions of being and doing are formed. It is that initial authenticity in which the true meaning of words is grounded and their relation to each other is corrected, their edges are trimmed. Spirit becomes impure […] when it is indifferent to truth; when it no longer desires to think cleanly or to measure by the standards of eternity; […] when it besmudges the sense of words—which is the sense of things and of existence itself—robbing them of their austerity and nobility."