"Sticks and Stones may break your bones but names will never
   hurt me" The only non-conformity the world likes is a limited
   set of sanctioned nonconformity. [the stereotypical
   nonconformists] If a label can safely be slapped on, "Oh, well,
   you know, he's a poet." or "Oh, well, you know, she's an artist"
   or "Oh, he's a writer"... a musician... etc etc. - then society
   is forgiving. That's what made me embrace "nerd" so young. 4th
   Grade, 1980, prior to Revenge of the Nerds even, after a 3rd
   Grade of being called "Nerd" (in retrospect, it was only two
   people who said it, one girl and one boy, and on a few
   occasions, but at the time, it "felt like" everybody was saying
   it)... I stood up tall and proud and learned to say back, "Yes,
   I am a nerd." which took away their power and the nerd thing 80%
   of its power as a "hurt word".
   I believed in "Sticks and Stones may break your bones but names
   will never hurt me". I knew that statement was a lie all by
   itself even then, because names do hurt. But I was inspired by
   it and strove to make it a reality. Very useful for me. I'd
   repeat it on my way home from school to myself after having a
   bad day. Words only have power when we give them power.