Canadian Politics Today

This makes my point far better than I can:

In some sense words really are magic spells. Say the right syllables and you assume tremendous power. But that too is an illusion, because the words themselves don't actually make you stronger.

There's real power in the world, there is real racism and sexism and oppression. People have suffered from these abuses.

The words themselves, though, are a string of sounds and some scratches on a page. They only have the power that we have collectively decided they should possess.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2013/03/words-have-power-we-give-them.html