12 Iain Thomas Quotes from Every Word You Cannot Say To Help When Life Is Hard

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Excerpt: Life can be hard. Words can help. Read our 12 empowering Iain Thomas quotes from Every Word You Cannot Say for help finding the right ones.

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Introduction: Words Are The Way Out

“Because we are human, and the closest we’ve ever come to showing each other who we really are, and how we love, is with words.”

Iain Thomas

Listen. We can change things. I know it can be hard to find the right words or even to say the words you want to say. It’s complicated. It’s confusing. It’s painful. Sometimes it’s all of the above and it’s crippling. I get it. We get it. We’ve all been there. But, words are the way out.

Words help make things less complicated, less confusing, and less painful. They become the vehicle through which we organize, clarify, and confirm exactly what it is we’re feeling and is what allows us to move those feelings out from our body and into the world. And it is through that release or exchange of words from one human to another that we become better and more connected to ourselves and each other in the deepest of ways.

Sometimes you will find the words and sometimes the words will find you. This is an exchange, after all. And for every word you choose not to say (or feel like you cannot say) that needs to be said, a bigger disconnect is formed in how you feel, how you relate to yourself, and how you relate to the world.

In his book, Every Word You Cannot Say, that’s what Iain Thomas attempts to do for the reader. He shares with you words that might feel complicated, confusing, painful and crippling, and gives them to you so that you can use them yourself. The power of this process is in the realization that the words you cannot say only hurt until you say them—or that they only hurt until the person who needs to hear them, hears them. And maybe that person is you. Or maybe that person is someone close to you.

This book, these words, are for you to explore and to use as you see fit. It’s the kind of book that you can read in one sitting but think about for many sittings thereafter. But, before you read all of the words you cannot say, start by reading some of our favorite words from Thomas’ book, below.

If any of them find their way safely to your mind and give you a little extra courage to confront and express words of your own, don’t hold back. Let the words come out. Listen to the words of others. We can change things. And while it may be hard to do that, things will get easier once you do. We promise. Good luck.

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The List: 12 Empowering Iain Thomas Quotes from Every Word You Cannot Say:

“Let me tell you how the world becomes better.  The world becomes better when good people like you look at themselves and decide what kind of life they want to live, and what they’re willing to do to make it that way.  This does not mean you need to fight more.  It means you need to find ways to fight less.  Sometimes, our immediate response to the way the world is, is anger, and the world is the way it is, because sometimes our immediate response to it is, anger.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 30)

“The world will always wear you down, so let it wear you down until only the good remains.  Hold on to the incredible parts of you that survive.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 93)

“The wind does not stop being the wind when it stops blowing.  A wave does not stop being a wave when it crashes against the shore.  A story does not stop being a story when you turn the page.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 25)

“We forget that how a person acts in each moment is not who they are, that each person is a series of moments and we cannot judge any moment in isolation, and use that moment to define them.  It is not up to others, it is up to us, which moments we want to hang on to, for good or for bad.  We forget our successes and enshrine our failures.  We forget there is still a child in all of us, begging for love.  We forget that this is true of every person we meet.  We only hear the loudest voices when really, we should be listening to the quietest.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 43)

“Everyone you meet along the way is just someone at a different point in their story.  So be patient and kind.  But don’t let anyone tell you how your story should go.  Only you know how your story goes.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 24)

“We all intend to be perfect but none of us are.  If only we could all see each other as we intended to be, instead of as who we are.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 148)

“It’s only the idea that everyone else KNOWS who they are that’s causing you pain.  But no one knows who they really are.  You are an overflowing river that shifts its banks when the rains come.  That’s why you cannot hold on to who you are.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 120)

“You cannot fix me because I am not broken.  And even though everything has changed, I am still more me than I’ve ever been.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 225)

“Why do we hurt ourselves more, when other people hurt us?  Why do we beat ourselves up, for feeling beat up?  Maybe the lesser pain you cause yourself distracts you from the bigger pain inside.  And it’s easy to get stuck in a kind of loop of pain.  You’re hurt, so you hurt yourself some more.  But the correct response to pain, is self-love.  When we’re hurt, we need to take better care of ourselves.  Not worse.  It can be hard to be conscious in the moment and remember to be kind to ourselves when someone hurts us.  But you need to try.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 116)

“Kindness is not a currency, and if you treat it like one, then that is not kindness.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 131)

“No one will ever tell you how great you can be.  You will never be asked to do something incredible with your life.  You will never get a letter in the mail that says, ‘Dear you, please, do something important with your time.’  Even if you do it quietly you have to give yourself the life you want.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 72)

“Here is the secret we all know:  We all want to love.  We’re all afraid we are alone.  We’re afraid no one will know who we are.  Because on some level, we all know you can die without love, without anyone, without even you knowing who you are.  (Unless you take care of you, and give yourself love.  Unless you meet yourself, inside yourself.  Unless you know yourself like you were meant to.  Forgive yourself for being you—you have done nothing wrong and tomorrow is another chance.  I swear, there is a day after, every day.)”

Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 68)

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Picture Quotes from Every Word You Cannot Say To Share:

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If you enjoyed these Iain Thomas quotes from Every Word You Cannot Say then you would certainly enjoy reading Thomas’ book in full. It comes warmly recommended: