Words - the most powerful drug

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.  - Rudyard Kipling

And Kipling, who was born on this date in 1865, used words in the most powerful of ways, creating great novels like The Jungle Book and The Man Who Would Be King, epic poems like Mandalay and Gunga Din, and collections for children like The Just So Stories.

Despite that, he is probably most quoted on or around Mother’s Day when his saying “God could not be everywhere and therefore he created mothers” is used in various renditions.

One of the most popular writers in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he is widely regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story.  His children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic has described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift.”

He was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India, where both his parents and the setting became integral parts of his writing and creative process.  His father was a noted sculptor and professor and his mother a socialite and driving force behind her son’s successes, teaching him reading and writing early and encouraging him to "think beyond yourself and your

  own world and tell everyone’s stories.”

In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first English-language recipient. The prize citation read: "In consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author."

“If history were taught in the form of stories,” Kipling said about his writing,  “it would never be forgotten.”

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