How to Read “Words are messengers of the heart”
Kotoba wa kokoro no tsukai
Meaning of “Words are messengers of the heart”
This proverb teaches that words are messengers of the heart. The true feelings inside a person will always show through their words.
No matter how much you try to hide your feelings, your real emotions will slip out in your words. A kind heart produces warm words. A cold heart produces cold words.
This proverb applies when you read someone’s true intentions through their words. It also applies when you realize your own words reflect your heart.
Even polite words feel empty if there’s no heart behind them. The other person can tell. On the other hand, clumsy words with genuine feeling reach the other person’s heart.
Today, we communicate more through social media and email. This makes the heart behind our words even more important.
Origin and Etymology
The exact origin of this proverb in historical texts is unclear. However, the structure of the phrase offers interesting insights.
Let’s focus on the word “tsukai.” This doesn’t mean “to use” in modern Japanese. It’s an old word meaning “messenger.” It refers to someone who delivers letters or messages.
In ancient Japan, people sent trusted messengers when they couldn’t meet someone directly. The messenger had the important job of accurately conveying the sender’s heart to the recipient.
This proverb compares words themselves to such messengers. Just as a messenger faithfully delivers the master’s will, words faithfully carry the speaker’s heart.
Calling words “messengers” has deep meaning. If a messenger betrays the master, trust breaks down. Similarly, if words differ from the heart, human relationships crack.
This expression shows that Japanese people have long understood the relationship between words and heart deeply. Words weren’t just sounds or letters. They were precious carriers of what’s inside the heart.
This proverb captures the Japanese cultural value of respecting and being careful with words.
Usage Examples
- Her encouraging words felt so warm and genuine. I truly felt that words are messengers of the heart.
- An apology that’s just words won’t reach the other person. Words are messengers of the heart, after all.
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down for generations because it captures the essence of human communication. We think we can control words as tools. But actually, words honestly reveal our hearts.
This shows a fundamental human contradiction. Everyone wants to look good and hide their true feelings. But the moment we have words as a means of expression, our true feelings leak out.
Tone of voice, word choice, timing—everything reflects the state of our heart. We can’t consciously control this.
This truth points to the foundation of trust in relationships. Over time, people develop the ability to read the heart behind someone’s words.
That’s why you can’t keep deceiving people with surface-level words. Our ancestors understood this inescapable truth.
The relationship between words and heart is an eternal challenge as long as humans are social beings. We can only connect deeply through words. Yet those words constantly mirror our hearts back to us.
This proverb teaches across time that communication isn’t about technique. It’s about the state of your heart.
When AI Hears This
If the information in your heart is 100 percent, the moment you convert it to words, you probably encode only about 30 percent. Take the word “happy” for example.
Inside your heart is vast information: what kind of happiness, how strong, what background. But the limited channel of words cuts away most of it. This is the compression stage in information theory.
What’s more troublesome is that noise always enters as that 30 percent travels to the other person. The receiver’s past experiences, mood that day, your tone, your expression all add in.
The receiver reconstructs the message through their own interpretation filter. The original 30 percent transforms further. Sometimes it even becomes the opposite meaning.
Information theory explains that information becomes uncontrollable the moment it leaves the sender and passes through the transmission channel.
Most important is that this process is completely irreversible. Once words leave your mouth, you can’t fully erase the interpretation pattern created in the other person’s brain. Even if you correct yourself immediately.
The correction just adds new information. The original misunderstanding remains as a trace. Comparing words to messengers works because once a messenger leaves the castle, you can’t call them back.
Information becomes an independent entity the moment it’s released.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of polishing your heart before polishing your words. Learning beautiful language and communication skills matters. But examining the state of your own heart is more essential.
Digital communication has become mainstream today. Even in text-only exchanges, the other person’s heart comes through. A hastily typed message versus a reply written with care—the difference definitely reaches the other person.
Rather than spending energy fixing up surface-level words, having a caring heart produces better communication in the end.
When you want to tell someone something, first ask your own heart. Are you truly thinking of the other person? Are you approaching them with sincerity?
If your heart is ready, your genuine feelings will reach the other person. Even if your words are clumsy. Words are messengers of the heart. They will carry your true thoughts.
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