Today we are examining “Little Old Letter” by Langston Hughes and its 3 Lessons for Entrepreneurs. Poetry is a great way to learn lessons in a more relaxed way than traditional learning methods.
Let’s start by checking out the poem.
Little Old Letter by Langston Hughes
Just a little old letter,
Wasn’t even one page long-
But it made me wish
I was in my grave and gone.
I turned it over,
Not a word writ on the back.
I never felt so lonesome
Since I was born black.
Just a pencil and paper,
You don’t need no gun nor knife-
A little old letter
Can take a person’s life.
As stated above, this great poem has 3 lessons for entrepreneurs. These lessons are:
- A few words can have a big impact.
- People’s words can destroy us.
- Our words can destroy others.
A few words can have a big impact.
The first of the lessons for entrepreneurs that is found in this short poem is that words can have a tremendous impact. In this poem, the narrator’s whole world was turned upside down with “just a little old letter.” It did not take pages upon pages of words. Just a few words on one side of a page completely destroyed the narrator. There were just a few words written in pencil on a piece of paper. Yet those words were enough to make the narrator feel lonely, suicidal, and devastated.
Entrepreneurs must be careful with their words choices. By using the wrong word to describe something, messages can be mangled. Using one word instead of another to describe something can cause hurt feelings. Poor words choices can lead to lost opportunities. A picture may be worth 1,000 words, and those words matter. When we use our words wisely we can create change and do wonderful things. Hashtags such as #blacklivesmatter, #meto, and #sayhername are small words that have had a big impact on American life.
People’s words can destroy us.
The second of the lessons for entrepreneurs in this poem is that people’s words can destroy us. The narrator describes wishing she was in her grave the letter was so devastating. This letter gave her the loneliest day of her life. A simple letter, not a traditional weapon was powerful enough to snatch a life. The devastation that the narrator felt upon reading the letter is palpable. As you read the words, you can see her grave. You can feel her loneliness. The feeling of being brought to death’s door is real and almost visible on the page. The narrator was destroyed by the words on the page.
As entrepreneurs, it is important for us to remember that just a few words can destroy us. Twitter messages for example are capped at a mere 240 characters. Yet a few well-phrased tweets have destroyed businesses, reputations, and lives. When interacting on social media, entrepreneurs must be careful what they say. If they respond improperly to a current event, the business can quickly be destroyed or damaged beyond repair. We have all seen stories on the news or in social media about someone being taken down by a few tweets or Facebook posts.
Our words can destroy others.
The third of the lessons for entrepreneurs found in this poem is that our words can destroy others. Almost everyone has heard the expression, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” As a person who was called names as a child, I can attest that names can hurt you.
Names do hurt. That is why kids call each other names. Kids call each other names in order to cause pain. They want to hurt the person being called names. Likewise, an entrepreneur’s words to a client are powerful. Your words can empower a client and make them want to do business with you again and again. Or your words can make a client feel devastated and worthless. That client will never want to work with you again. The power of our words is almost limitless in power to impact others. No matter what you do, choose your words carefully.
If you want to read more about lessons for entrepreneurs, check out:
3 Lessons From People Who Refuse to Take Action Now
There are 3 lessons I have learned from people who refuse to TAN aka Take Action Now. A smart entrepreneur can learn something new every day if she tries. There are some people who take action now and get things done. Click here to read more.
and
“The Harder They Fall” and 3 Excellent Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Recently, I watched the Netflix movie, “The Harder They Fall” and it had three lessons for entrepreneurs. These lessons are: sometimes things are hard, you cannot sit around waiting for destiny, loyalty doesn’t last forever for everyone. Click here to read more.
Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.
The poem “Little Old Letter” by Langston Hughes has three lessons or entrepreneurs. These lessons are that a few words can have a big impact, people’s words can destroy us, and our words can destroy others. These are great lessons for entrepreneurs to learn and embrace. So, the question for you this wonderful day is what lessons did you learn from this m.
Take a moment now to reflect on these lessons. How can you put them into play in your business? Be sure to share your ideas in the comment section. You may help someone find a breakthrough.
Words can have such a big impact. I try to tell that to my students all of the time. I see some kids really feel the words going for and against them. We encourage positive culture but sometimes the kids mess up, and there’s always a price to pay for the target.
I love this. note taking is such a huge part of learning and growing as an entrepreneur.
Thank you for sharing the poem with us and inspiring words
You always share amazing tips! Our words can destroy others – this is so true and sadly, not many of us understand this!
What a great powerful poem. So true too, our words can impact people a lot
It is so true that words are so powerful. Goes both for positive and negative. I think we are in an age when people don’t give as much thought to their words.
Thank you for sharing this poem with us! It’s short but full of meaning. And the also I am so glad to know the 3 lessons we could learn from here as an entrepreneur.
This is so true! Our words can have an incredible impact. I try to teach my kids this lesson all the time.
Informative post to read and for me, choosing the right words to say is really important because every words that we could say can affect on us and other people’s lives.
Yes, I am so agree that words have a tremendous impact… on us, on other, on everything around us. We really need to be more careful about it!
I agree, words can have a big impact on others that’s why we need to choose our words wisely.
So true. Choosing the right words to use is so important, anywhere and to anyone.
So true. Especially for kids or when you’re still young and innocent. Painful words could shatter you
That is a great statement!
This is so true! I was talking about this with friends and one of them shared something a teacher told her when she was little and it was horrible. It’s stuck with her, her whole life. Words hold power.
Yes, definitely. Even just a single word can ruin someone’s confidence. So let’s be careful.
This post is really powerful, thanks so much for sharing this.
Powerful poem – its short length makes even more of a point because nearly anyone has time to read a short passage. That, in itself, is still another lesson.
It is quite amazing how much power words can have. For this reason we should always choose our words wisely.
This is so true! We have no idea how our words can impact someone else.
It is so true about the power of words. One needs to think before they share things and you just never know.
Such a powerful post and poem. I think we’ve all learned in the past few years that our words really do carry wait and we need to use them carefully. Such a beautiful reminder of that here.
Yes, this is such a powerful poem. I love it. You always need to think of what you do–you never know if can make a big impact on someone else.
Words must be chosen carefully. We need to think and consider our words before we speak or write and put them out into the world.
Words matter. The Bible says that the power of life and death are in the tongue and I’ve always found that to be true.
We’ve seen first hand how the words of a leader matter. But every one of us should monitor what we say and try not to cause harm. This is sometimes harder than one would think and we must constantly evaluate, learn and update our understanding of what we should not say or write. I am currently regretting encouraging people to keep up their holiday lights to show solidarity with front-line workers, in an article I had published. It was just pointed out to me that this suggestion assumes all readers are of Christian faith … not my intention at all, but perhaps it was worded carelessly. I keep trying.
This goes to show you that a note can have a big impact. I have always tried to send a few words back to any one who has interviewed me for a position or a job and it goes a long way.
Words are so important, I was literally just thinking this, a client was rude with me earlier and I know what he said wasn’t meant to offend me personally but it still made an impact
Now more than ever, our words are making such a big impact. We should always be thoughtful and think before we speak (or write).