Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes, and thanks to words, we have sunk to read more

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes, and thanks to words, we have sunk to the level of the demons.

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.

And who in time knows whither we may vent the treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores this gain read more

And who in time knows whither we may vent the treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores this gain of our best glories shall be sent, 't unknowing Nations with our stores? What worlds in the yet unformed Occident may come refined with the accents that are ours?

All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar's teeth.

All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar's teeth.

Grammar, which knows how to lord it over kings, and with high
hands makes them obey its laws.
read more

Grammar, which knows how to lord it over kings, and with high
hands makes them obey its laws.
[Fr., La grammaire, qui sait regenter jusqu'aux rois,
Et les fait, la main haute, obeir a ses lois.]

It was greek to me.

It was greek to me.

Language is a city to the building of which every human being
brought a stone.
- read more

Language is a city to the building of which every human being
brought a stone.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson,

Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.

Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.

The coldest word was once a glowing new metaphor.

The coldest word was once a glowing new metaphor.