Quotes from S. I. Hayakawa

In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read.

Learning to write is learning to think. You don't know anything clearly unless you can state it in writing.

It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.

English is the key to full participation in the opportunities of American life.

I believe we are being dishonest with language minority groups if we tell them they can take full part in American life without learning the English language.

Good teachers never say anything. What they do is create the conditions under which learning takes place.

In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.

Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, "I have failed three times," and what happens when he says, "I am a failure."

In the age of television, image becomes more important than substance.

Patriotic societies seem to think that the way to educate school children in a democracy is to stage bigger and better flag-saluting.

If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it.

Those terrifying verbal jungles called laws are simply such directives, accumulated, codified, and systematized through the centuries.

In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to lead; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.

In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.

Language is a unifying instrument which binds people together. When people speak one language they become as one, they become a society.

So I will say it with relish. Give me a hamburger but hold the lawsuit.

I'm going to speak my mind because I have nothing to lose.

You guys are both saying the same thing. The only reason you're arguing is because you're using different words.

We should keep [the Panama Canal]. After all, we stole it fair and square.

There is only one thing age can give you, and that is wisdom.

Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, I have failed three times, and what happens when he says, I am a failure.

In the age of television, image becomes more important than substance.

It is the individual who knows how little they know about themselves who stands the most reasonable chance of finding out something about themselves before they die.

If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it.