# We are no more than what we say



## Robert Bennie

G'day forum

On a separate thread I offered the comment 





> We are no more than what we say


and was challenged.

Does anyone have an opinion or interest?

Robert


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## lsp

I think this is true of very few people.


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## Benjy

depends on the context of course *cue laughter* 
in all seriousness, in a language forum when all that people see of us is what we type, we are to each other exactly what we say, no more no less, however in the real world i think that words mean a lot less than what we do


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## gaer

Robert Bennie said:
			
		

> G'day forum
> 
> On a separate thread I offered the comment
> and was challenged.
> 
> Does anyone have an opinion or interest?
> 
> Robert


Robert,

Are you referring to what was say, speaking, say, writing, or both? 

G


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## Robert Bennie

G'day gaer

Thanks for the interest.

My question relates to whatever you say and however you say it.  I am interested in your voice and the what the words you choose reveal.  Spoken or written or signed or a thumb-nail dipped in tar.  It is the words and the arrangement of those words.

If I show you yours will you show me mine?

Robert


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## te gato

Ohhhhhh! Only if you show me yours first!!!
I guess..for me..I write how I speak..anyone can read any of my posts and understand this..and the reason I say that is because..when I type I talk outloud..yes Insanity runs in the family. For me what you see is what you get...
I can be sensitive when I wish to be..I live by my heart..and what I feel..I also use humor to a point..I love to laugh and make other people laugh..I am some times reflective...and easly hurt and that comes out in what I say sometimes..(man why am I telling you all this)..I do not like to be pushy..but I do like to get my point across..I am patient..I will try and explain things in a easy manner first and if that does not work then I will resort to..heaven forbid...using my brain...I can be very technical if I have to...I do not like people knowing how smart I realy am..I never have..so I... most times..will play the back-woods hick...My spelling is very bad..I spell words how they sound...If I think about a question too long I will begin to have self-doubt about my answer..so I will answer and then get out of Dodge very fast....and I like to use dots..........
So Robert..I have just shown you mine...Your turn..
And if this is not what you were inquiring about..TOUGH..For I am also stubborn.

te gato 



			
				Robert Bennie said:
			
		

> My question relates to whatever you say and however you say it. I am interested in your voice and the what the words you choose reveal. Spoken or written or signed or a thumb-nail dipped in tar. It is the words and the arrangement of those words.
> 
> If I show you yours will you show me mine?
> 
> Robert


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## Robert Bennie

THE LIGHTHOUSE

As wind and wave reshape this sand
a task beyond the hand of man
I watch you on your rocks above
you gave me once undying love
An oath now like these rocks below
while ocean heave and rain still blow
Your quiet calm unflinching gaze
will guide us through our muddled maze

Robert


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## Agnès E.

Robert,
Just post you poem in your own thread about successful women and everything will be said...
Thank you for offering us such interesting points to discuss!


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## Agnès E.

Well Robert, I did not imply (at all) that you want to know everything. 
You're a wondering man, you have a provocative mind (perhaps because, but this is MY idea that I probably put in YOUR mind, sorry) because wondering and questioning are the source of learning...
Knowing is the source of regression.
Cogito, ergo sum...


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## Robert Bennie

G'day Agnes E.
Sorry mate you completely misunderstand.  I felt joy at your entry and was attempting poetically to unite with you in a knowledge quest.

Please accept my appologies.

I'm covered in bumps and bruises and big and ugly enough to look after meself.

I choose to look for a positive spin on what is said and all I need is a small spin to start with.  Your words twirl and gyrate and twist with wonder.

Stay with me and we'll either hit the wall or make it across

Robert


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## Agnès E.

I'll stay Robert, I'll stay... 

Misunderstanding is nice, it offers a possibility to better understand next time.
Dare I say I sometimes like vertigo?


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## Agnès E.

Well, widening the questioning is always the possibility of getting more answers (I'm not such a poet in English, but you'd see that in French, ha!)


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## Robert Bennie

Poetry is so slippery sadly translation misses

with tears

Robert


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## Agnès E.

Well, can a heart be translated?
Poetry is not produced by a mind, but by a heart.
All native speakers of a language are not able to write poetry. Techniques are involved in a certain limit, beyond which the mystery starts.


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## Robert Bennie

The mystery terrifies and calls me and draws me

Can I lace this space between us
Weave a web of word and deed
Give my version of the reason
Show you secrets I have seen
When I walked in private places
Tasted sights and felt each scream
Share with you ideas and wonder
What you know and who I've been
You may join in if you dare to
With your mind and then your deed
Will you grant me cause to ponder
When I know your thoughts of me

Robert


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## Agnès E.

I'm shaking of frustration not to be able to reach you up there!
I'd like some other English native to joign you and bring you more fun I do... 
Please, foreros, help me !


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## Agnès E.

And do they have some reasons to think so?
I'm sure many of them will change their minds, now they will have had a look on another... face of your intimate coin if I may say so...
Toleration is a hard thing, I was probably more lucky because I'm shy to post in English-speaking forums and I spend pretty much time to observe before writing (the horse/tong thing, remember?  )
Understanding brings appreciating, I guess.


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## Robert Bennie

I jump in and stir the pot to see what bubbles up.  This is my milk language and I use it as I see fit and it fits me.

If they're offended by robust language they'll soon stop reading.

A strict demand for constant gentleness and deference should not be required between equals

You see and read and play and make it worthwhile

Can I come and play later but I must go to bed

Step boldly then fiercly to proudly show mercy
Who best the foe greatest are blessed by the test

Goodnight and see you later

Robert


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## Artrella

Agnes E. said:
			
		

> wondering and questioning are the source of learning...
> Knowing is the source of regression.
> Cogito, ergo sum...



Agnes, I really like what you've said!!! Great!! I think it too.  Sometimes we are mistaken when we wonder too much, because people who don't know the answer of sth you've asked, tend to feel insecure so they stick to the "safe thing" and don't want to allow any change.  And in the change, in the dynamic thing is where knowledge lies.

I think I am what I write and what I say... I am an open woman, and I don't mind to say what I think... I must admit that this is creating a lot of problems and putting people against me... but if you don't speak your mind...mmmm...
are we cowards if we don't say what we think, I mean what we are???

I don't know if what I've already said has something to do with what Robert asked, but anyway, I wanted to say this.

Byesss!!!!


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## Agnès E.

Bonjour Artrella 

What is most (intimately, personally speaking) rewarding:

Get frightened by things we do not understand or just try to understand things which are frightening us?
Keeping our minds opened enables us not to be frightened by our own ignorance and to start a true discussion!


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## te gato

Hey Agnes and Art GF;

I agree with both of you...people tend to shy away from what they do not know..or what they Think they do not know...
I personaly misinterpret things all the time...That comes from being open..and being a 'heart' thinker... 
I am in the same boat...I'm not too sure on what exactly Robert is wanting..but I gave my interpretation...the bumps and bruises are not limited to one..and not only reserved for one..
mmm... Rules...a few guidelines here Robert...so we can do what we do best..(from a Female standpoint)..change up the rules to suit us..yet staying in the parameters of the game..show us yours  

te gato


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## Robert Bennie

G'day players
Yes Artrella yes.  You do speak to me and I hear something from you thank you.  I hope that I will not always agree with you because then I will learn nothing.

My language at times drifts from the direct to poetry and back.  I do not control this.  It just happens and I am trying to find my voice through my fingers.

My lumps and bumps and bruises and ugliness have nothing to do with the gentle people here.  Forty eight years of bouncing off big ugly bruised and bumped mugs and geniuses and poets and thugs and bullies and butterflys and life have granted me with more scars than I can gain from something here.  Here I want to fill my mind and if someone else finds my mind of any interest I will be honoured beyond dreams.

If everyone agrees with me I will run screaming from the sycophants having learned nothing.

I dunno how to change up the rules to suit us and as a recently abdicated king of anarchy I'm allergic to rules and cages.  When I rattle the cage I don't look up because I have no idea what will fall on my face but I will look at the floor and see if the mess I made is better than the stultification I broke.  If I rattle the cage and nothing is wrong then nothing will fall but if the cage is a false cage I may even break it.

What is most extremely intensely intimate for me is to look around a room of total strangers as I speak my words and see one pair of eyes regarding me with a mind that just caught a cramp.

STANDUP

Why do we stand before
with such a fateful risk
We standup front to reach you
and give voice to all of this
There is very little peril
for the novice standing here
Just a vague self conscious terror
yet how many feel that fear
In a world of honest banners
a person may reveal
Open minds and moral manners
their perception of the real
And if that view confounds you
can you take the step
As if that view confronts you
the need may be to stretch

Robert


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## gaer

Robert,
====
My question relates to whatever you say and however you say it. I am interested in your voice and the what the words you choose reveal. Spoken or written or signed or a thumb-nail dipped in tar. It is the words and the arrangement of those words.
------
Ah, but how much more complicated it becomes when we speak! 
====
If I show you yours will you show me mine?
------
(Thinking…) I'll get back to you about that… 
====
How can we separate what we hear from what we see (gestures, facial expressions), and even when we can't see the person talking, what clues do we pick up from tone of voice? Which clues are helpful and which misleading?

I think that when talking to one another we have a greater chance to subconsciously link in ways that are unrelated to the words we are using.

Reading words on a page—or putting them down on a page—presents a different kind of challenge. How precise can we be? (My personal view—not very…)

Here's a point of view once presented to me that I find extremely interesting. Someone once said that if we speak to someone who has had experiences parallel to ours, we will find a way to common in ground IN SPITE of words. But if we have no common experience, no amount of "precision" will prevent miscommunication.

It's certainly something worth pondering…

Gaer


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## Silvia

Robert Bennie said:
			
		

> On a separate thread I offered the comment
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We are no more than what we say
> 
> 
> 
> and was challenged.
> 
> Does anyone have an opinion or interest?
Click to expand...

 Are you saying that you can gather/guess who I am just by the way I talk/speak/write/type? If so, prove it to me.


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## cuchuflete

If 'we' are no more than what we say, then those who don't have gifts or skill with words
would be less than they are in the ideas of the beholder.  Sad for the judgemental beholder. Sad for the judged.

The proposition is rubbish.
Need confirmation? Ask a mute person who hasn't learned to write.


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## Robert Bennie

Yeah g'day cuchuflete
Next time I have the opportunity I'll have someone to sign for me and ask what the mute person has to say about that.

I am so pleased that you continue to enter my threads with such insightful and assisting comments.  You must live in a wonderful world.  Thank you.  You are teaching me more about people than most I have met.

Strange that you should drop the judgemental beholder comment.

Fascinating

The best revenge is to live well,,,

Robert


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