“you actually end up with a screwed-up reality—at least for you. Alices who misuse language end up eventually living in their own Wonderlands. Lousy language hurts the people who use it, as well as the society they live in; if you use sloppy language, then you end up with sloppy perceptions. So it’s easy to fool these people simply by using their corrupted vocabulary; tell them what they want to hear. They’ll not only believe what you say, but they’ll believe in you.” “Precisely,” Acton said, nodding his head as he stared at me intently. Now Mary eased herself down next to me. Only Garth remained in a squatting position, absently tracing invisible patterns on the stone in front of him with his index finger. “They use the language of cannibals, which eats up people’s perceptions and sensibilities, and sometimes their lives. But the language of cannibals also consumes the people who use it; they become fools, as easily manipulable as their intended victims.”