They can lead to violence, but that should never happen. And in our society and country you should never have to fear violence because of words. Period.
December Seventh, nineteen forty one, a day that will live in infamy...
I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
...We shall fight on the beaches,
We shall fight on the landing grounds,
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills;
We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
When in the course of human events...
So many words have led to violence, but is that always a bad thing?
It is human nature that the insults levied by one group against another, or by tyrants against the masses will be endured until overthrown, seldom by peaceful means, but more often by abrupt and violent ones. Without words to communicate the outrage, to communicate the hopes for the future, would men fight for their freedom?
Certainly, those words can be used to enslave, to destroy without intent of rebuilding, to perpetrate evil, or they can be used to fight that slavery, and to incite the masses to do what is necessary to fight that evil through either peaceful means or the most vicious.
Human nature suggests that we endure the most pervasive and perfidious insults before finally rising to overthrow that burden, and the results are seldom peaceful. By the time enough gumption is raised to do something, there is no patience for the soft and gentle reversal of policies deeply entrenched over decades.
Then, too, angry people often do stupid things.