Last Word
The last word on the subject is often forgotten or overlooked. It’s the answer to a question or the final course of action. But it is actually the most important word because, without it, there would be no closure to a discussion or event.
For example, by saying “yes” instead of “no” when asked if you want coffee, iced tea, wine and chips for lunch you are answering with your last word on what drinks you would like to enjoy during your weekly meeting with colleagues.
To complete the “Last Word” Campaign, all TBWA\Chiat\Day offices are invited to create a campaign using their last words and include a reference to “The Last Word.” Or, if your office is not an FCB office, you can do the same in any other agency.
—Charles Anderson
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The last word is the one after which there are no words more. I have said my last word on this subject. Now go away and let me drink my coffee in peace.
—W. H. Auden
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The last word is the one for which there can be no more thought or reflection. It refers to the point at which silence becomes a form of speech and in which, therefore, the remark becomes a "last" one, or the last thing said on that subject. Therefore, philosophers are prone to expend so much of their time thinking about it that they forget what was said before it and deny themselves an opportunity to philosophise at all. It is with this idea in mind that I say my last word on the subject of computer design hopes and dreams.
—Neil Postman with Charles Weingarten
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This is my last word on this subject. I’m going to the ballet! (said by Grace Slick)
—José Luis Sert, in response to Edith Soderberg, who asked him how he got so tan. Later he wrote, in response to Diane von Furstenberg's comment that he was tanner than usual: "This is my last word on this subject. I have nothing further to add." Also after Joe Eula asked him if he'd been working out: "I have said my last word on that subject. We are moving on."
—Kevin Smith
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A last word is the one we say when silence would be an acknowledgment and a concession. It is the end of a sentence, but not necessarily of an argument or debate. The last word is the one that gives meaning to all that preceded it. The last word is the one that brings closure to an issue that was already opened by it. It can be used by anyone and in any context. It can remain intact or be fragmented into less meaningful "last words" but cannot be used in any other function other than it was originally intended: to set everything in its rightful place, deferring further discussion until more time becomes available. The last word is the final word on a subject.
—Sylvain Tessier
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The last word is spoken only to close disputes and controversies; but we have no right to it, when it ought not to be uttered. The last person who speaks it is in danger of being thought a very foolish man; but he that hears it, may have every reason to bless his fate, who has escaped so obstinate an adversary. There are no disputes wherein truth and candour should be silent; but there are some wherein they must be silent themselves, though they have not heard all the arguments: till they hear all that which can be laid before them. They are not to be present, in their own cause, nor to determine the controversy. Every man is at liberty to give his opinion; but he ought not to be trusted, who gives his opinion undiscovered and unknown. The last word in a controversy is no word at all; for it can neither be trusted, nor believed; and every man must be allowed to have both right and reason upon his side.
—John Locke
(Click here for previous Last Words entries. Thanks to Tom Crouch, John Lobdell, Mark Nelson and Derek Cheng for the last word entries.)
The last word on a subject is a bad idea. When you use that word it tends to put the person against you in your time of need. It's like using an umbrella when it's still raining.
—William A. Ward
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"Thank you for your note and… I'm afraid my next question will be deleted if it offends you too much. But what motivates your interest in my company? What do you see as our strengths, weaknesses, and areas of growth (and why)?"
From the perspective of a businessperson looking for an investment opportunity, an excellent question. A good businessperson would take that one step further, asking about their personal motivations for investing in the financial firm: "What's the impact that you think our deal will have on your life and those around you? Why do you think I should be interested in investing with a small financial firm like yours?"
—Alex Zobin
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Why is it named after me? Because it’s my last word.
—Benjamin Franklin
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The time has come for me to digress from my original purpose, which was to calculate what the variance of a secure sum from zero is. I have not changed my mind about this; but it seems to me that I may derive greater amusement from proving that there is no such thing as the last word in mathematics than by showing that this sum cannot be reduced to zero. My purpose in writing is not merely to instruct those who will read what I have written, but also such of my fellow-citizens as may be interested in the question whether it is possible in any sense whatever to determine a predicate true or false, or even approximately true. I should be glad to derive amusement from proving that there is no word that expresses all that can possibly be said and thought, but am not so much startled when I find the last of a series terminating.
—John Venn
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The last word? The last is no word at all. The best to do with it is shred it. And shred we must, as we would do with the rest of our rubbish – i.e., use it up in some form or other, whether paper or sound. We can't afford to waste any mass or energy on yesterday's thoughts.
Conclusion: The last word is no word at all.
—Joe Eula
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When we think of what the last word would be, we may be tempted to use it. I would, however, always ask myself whether I was right when I said so. After all, it is the last; and a book can be printed without further words. And even those who are persistent enough to write a second edition of their work have done nothing that no one else could have done who has read their books.
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Last Word