The Law of Metaphors:

In order to describe the contents of your own mind or someone else's mind, you have to use metaphors.

Dances with Wolves: A Psychological Review

(Published in the Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1991)

Psychologists analyze conflicts within people, and so it might seem they would not have much to say about Dances with Wolves, a film about conflicts between people — between Indians and U.S. cavalry soldiers.

Short idea (10): In every conversation there are things unstated and un-statable. In every thought process there is something unthinkable. There are things we aren't grasping, can't grasp, and never will be able to grasp — no matter how confident and optimistic we are feeling at any particular moment.

Short idea (53): If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it is worth a million thoughts and feelings. If words are cheap, then ideas and feelings are worth next to nothing. If actions speak louder than words, then they drown out thoughts and feelings altogether.

Metaphor and Imagination

By Thomas R. Hersh

Copyright 2011

A Psychological Look at Language

Research on Metaphors in Psychological Speech: TABLE OF DATA

Research on Metaphors in Psychological Speech: OBSERVATIONS

Research on Metaphors in Psychological Speech: NOTES ON THE TABLE OF DATA

(This article is incomplete and being added to on an ongoing basis, and the table itself is being added to on an ongoing basis. — October 27, 2013)

Short idea (173): Some mythic stories can be understood, among other things, as attempts to present psychological states of mind that are difficult (or even impossible) to describe or present in ordinary language. An example is an American Indian story that tells about a man who was picked up off the ground and blown far away from his home by a great wind. When he landed he became a great healer. The whole story is one big metaphor.

Short idea (200): Perhaps the most seductive things in the world are words — including the words that come into your head.