'The potency and power of words'

 

“Words - so innocent and powerlessas they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil theybecome in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” – NathanielHawthorne
 

Born on the 4th ofJuly in 1804, Hawthorne established himself as one of America’s pre-eminent 19thCentury writers with tales about his native New England.

 

His most prominent story that haslasted through the ages is The Scarlet Letter.  Its successcatapulted him from near-obscurity to the center of the New England writingmovement, which at the time included such prominent writers as Ralph WaldoEmerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  

 

He took advantage of his newpopularity to rapidly publish or re-publish works like The House of theSeven Gables, Wonder Book for Girls and Boys, and Twice-ToldTales, all still studied in American literature courses. 

 

The great-great grandson of a SalemWitch Trials judge, Hawthorne often focused on Puritanic themes and espousedbeing pure, accurate and meticulous, especially when it came to the power that writers' words can convey.   

 

“Accuracy is the twin brother ofhonesty; inaccuracy of dishonesty,” he noted. “Easy reading is damn hardwriting.”