The Power of Words

So this is going to be somewhat random, but I was thinking about everything we have done this year and wondering what the power of words are. So, to start, what is a word? I don't want to get all psychological and whatever, but do people really understand the gravity of their words when they speak them? In light of getting our Junior Themes back, I have been contemplating this a lot. I think the problem with papers like those are that people say want to say in their paper a lot more than they say what they have to say, meaning that they get so caught up in the topic of choice that they want to say everything that they have learned very blatantly instead of sticking what they should say to make a great paragraph. For people who are confused, because my words are confusing even myself: Do you say what you want to say or do you say what you have to say? For me, I say what I want to say a whole lot more than I say what I need to say. This is sometimes good, because it makes me be an honest and opinionated person, but it is also has its faults, like hurting someone or not answering the question you were originally asked. This doesn't really make sense, but its just something I have been thinking about lately.