Dr. Wilfred Funk who became famous as a composer of dictionaries, once was asked to list the ten most expressive words in the English language. He gave the following answer:
The most bitter word is “alone.”
The most reverent word is “mother.”
The most tragic word is “death.”
The most beautiful word is “love.”
The most cruel word is “revenge.”
The most peaceful word is “tranquil.”
The saddest word is “forgotten.”
The warmest word is “friendship.”
The coldest word is “no.”
The most comforting word is “faith.”
We could play endless games with Wilfred Funk’s list. We could make our own lists, for example, and discover that no two lists were exactly the same. We could go on and on, defending our own lists and challenging others. There would be plenty of room for debate. But, I suspect that in most cases we would be able to see elements of truth in each other’s…
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