Common experience is the gold reserve which confers an exchange value on the currency which words are; without this reserve of shared experiences, all our pronouncements are checks drawn on insufficient funds.

Summary

This quote suggests that common experiences form a valuable foundation for effective communication. It compares this shared reserve of experiences to a gold reserve that gives value to words. Without this shared knowledge and understanding, our words are like worthless checks, lacking the necessary backing. In other words, our words carry little weight or meaning if they are not rooted in shared experiences that we can all relate to. Therefore, it is important to draw from common experiences to ensure our statements are meaningful and relatable.

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