But words are words; I never yet did hear
That the bruised heart was pierced through the ear.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Nursing a "bruised heart" because of his daughter’s marriage to Othello, Brabantio rejects the Duke’s attempts to console him with words. He dismisses the power of language to heal a broken heart, even though knowing Othello wooed Desdemona and won the Duke’s admiration with stories and eloquence of language. This is a good example of irony.