Quotes About Language

A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.

Mr. Sinclair once asked the class to make a list of the ten most beautiful words in the English language, and the only word that really seemed beautiful to me was tenderness.

You good with Arabic?" Bam! Out of left field, and now Stone was smiling. There were many Arabic dialects, from Moroccan Arabic with Berber words which often did not even sound Arabic, to the aristocratic Arabic spoken by the Saudi royal family, which was different from the Arabic spoken in the streets.

You. Yeah, you, c'mon, get up." He spoke perfect English, but Jack couldn't tell if the Korean kid understood English or not. The guard motioned him to get up, so he slowly stood. The guard motioned him closer, so he went closer. He didn't shuffle forward with downcast eyes like the others. He held himself erect and met the guard's eyes.

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

Unless you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.

Unless you are at home in the metaphor, you are not safe anywhere.

You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country.

All the fun's in how you say a thing.

He studied Latin like the violin, because he liked it.

My definition of literature would be just this: words that have become deeds.

The human tongue is a beast that few can master.

The survival of our earliest ancestors depended on their ability to communicate with one another well before the invention of language. They evolved new and complex emotions—joy, shame, gratitude, jealousy, resentment, et cetera. The signs of these emotions could be read immediately on their faces, communicating their moods quickly and effectively.

Even with skills that are primarily mental, such as computer programming or speaking a foreign language, it remains the case that we learn best through practice and repetition—the natural learning process.

The word "charm" comes from the Latin carmen, a song, but also an incantation tied to the casting of a magical spell.

The idea that the early Christian tradition was limited to its Greek and Latin expressions is still widespread. This assumption distorts historical reality and weakens greatly our understanding of the roots of Christian theology and spirituality. In the third and fourth centuries Syriac was the third international language of the church. It served as the major means of communication in the Roman diocese of the East, which included Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia.

You have enchanted me with a single kiss Which can never be undone Until the destruction of language

Lies belong in poems

She looked at Connor. "How old are you?" His jaw shifted. "I doona discuss my private life." "I can translate that for you," Phineas offered. "It means he's embarrassed he was a caveman and ate brontosaurus burgers for lunch." Connor arched an eyebrow at him. "The correct translation is 'sod off.'

Harry Yutu. His last name is Eskimo for 'The Claw.

Every time you try to convince others through verbal persuasion, you suffer from your inability to select and share language in a way that reproduces in the mind of the listener exactly the same thoughts you are having. You say your words, but others hear their words, which in turn stimulate their images, their past histories, and their overall meaning—all of which may be very different from what you intended.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

He believed there was a mystery at the center of the great big why-is-there-anything called the universe, and that it did not speak to us, or not in any language we could understand, and that it was an insult to the mystery to pretend that it did.

It is not only violent terrorists who induce fear as a means of communication. Intellectual terrorists are equally vile. Intellectual terrorists are emotional extortionists. These terrorists, who are often racists, sexists, classists, or religious bigots, employ the language of fear. They generalize and essentialize a people, reducing them to a phenomenon. They incite fear and terror toward their victims and force the victims into a horrified silence.