~ Ugly Words ~

Cover of 10 Commandments of Common Sense

I have notably been in a serious mood of late, and this post is a reflection of that. I am going to have to lighten up a bit, as I am depressing myself.

What are the six ugliest words in the English Language? Off the top of my head, here are my six:  starvation, violence, war, hate, cold-heartedness, and greed.

Hal Urban, author of The 10 Commandments of Common Sense has six different words. His are: selfish, egotistical, conceited, haughty, self-centred, and arrogant.

What do his six words and my six words have in common? His six words are more personality based, while mine are more far-reaching—but the thing they have in common is that his words lead to mine.

Greed has caused war. Cold-heartedness is the result of being egotistical.  Haughty leads to hate. And the list goes on.

By examining these words, by defining them, by being appalled by them, we can make strides. But first we have to recognize them for what they are. They are all part of the human condition.

I will leave you with some words from C.S. Lewis, who believes that pride is the one word we should wrestle to the ground. He said:

“Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to selfishness are really far more the result of pride….It is pride that has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and family since the world began…The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”

According to Urban, Lewis believes that “We can’t overcome it unless we first acknowledge it.”

Words (Photo credit: sirwiseowl)

So what do you think? What are your six ugliest words? And do you concede that you are conceited?