Quotes About Language

I at once made of those two principles the general foundations of all style: first, to say what one feels exactly as one feels it — clearly, if it is clear; obscurely, if it is obscure; and confusedly, if it is confused; secondly, to understand that grammar is a tool not a law.

Only those who are unable to think what they feel obey grammatical rules.

I enjoy using words. Or rather: I enjoy making words work.

Every spoken word double-crosses us. The only tolerable form of communication is the written word, since it isn't a stone in a bridge between souls but a ray of light between stars.

Nothing grates more on me than the vocabulary of moral intent and social responsibility.

Nasciamo senza saper parlare e moriamo senza aver saputo dire. La nostra vita trascorre fra il silenzio di chi tace e il silenzio di chi non è stato compreso, e intorno a tutto ciò, come un'ape in un luogo senza fiori, aleggia sconosciuto un inutile destino.

Let grammar rule the man who doesn't know how to think what he feels. Let it serve those who are in command when they express themselves.

Desterrad el error infantil de preguntar el sentido de las cosas o de las palabras. Nada tiene sentido.

Civilization consists in giving an inappropriate name to something and then dreaming what results from that. And in fact the false name and the true dream do create a new reality. The object really does become other, because we have made it so.

Despedíos del error infantil de preguntar el sentido de las cosas y las palabras. Nada tiene sentido.

GörünüÅŸe bak?l?rsa uygarl?klar s?rf sanat ve edebiyat üretmek için var, kelimelerse onlardan bize kalan, bizimle konuÅŸan ÅŸeyler.

Nadie comprende a otro. Somos, como dijo el poeta, islas en el mar de la vida; corre entre nosotros el mar que nos define y nos separa. Por más que un alma se esfuerce por saber qué cosa es otra alma, no sabrá sino lo que le diga una palabra.?

An honest sentence should always have several meanings. Verbs!

Do not make the infantile mistake of asking the meaning of things and words. Nothing has any meaning.

There is nothing in this life so nice and so Gaelic as truly true Gaelic Gaels who speak in true Gaelic Gaelic about the truly Gaelic language.

A bull may sometimes be a cow, a jackdaw may discourse, cocks have established from time to time the hypothesis that the egg is impeculiar to the she-bird, but a servant is at all times a servant notwithstanding.

I distrust pious phrases, especially when they issue from my mouth. I try militantly never to be affected by the pious language of the faithful but it is always coming out when you least expect it. In contrast to the pious language of the faithful, the liturgy is beautifully flat.

My mamma and I have interesting literary discussions like the following which took place over some Modern Library books that I had just ordered: SHE: "Mobby Dick. I've always heard about that." ME: "Mow-by Dick." SHE: "Mow-by Dick. The Idiot. You would get something called Idiot. What's it about?" ME: "An idiot.

There may never be anything new to say, but there is always a new way to say it.

Mrs. May winced. She thought the word Jesus should be kept inside the church building like other words inside the bedroom.

Je ne me battrais pas pour chaque mot tombé de ma bouche, mais il y a des tas de choses dont je ne parviens pas à parler et pour lesquelles je me battrais.

You don't know what it is to stay a whole day with your head in your hands trying to squeeze your unfortunate brain so as to find a word.

and since, human speech is like a cracked tin kettle, on which we hammer out tunes to make bears dance when we long to move the stars

I'm a massive fan of the dictionary.