Quotes About Language

New ways I go, a new speech comes to me; weary I grow, like all creators, of the old tongues. My spirit no longer wants to walk on worn soles.

Suicides have a special language. Like carpenters they want to know which tools. They never ask why build.

If someone said, I want to translate your novel into Igbo, I would say, Go ahead. But when I write in the Igbo language, I write my own dialect. I write some poetry in that dialect.

People don't want to read subtitles.

I might sing a gospel song in Arabic or do something in Hebrew. I want to mix it up and do it differently than one might imagine.

First be sure that you know exactly what you want to say. Then be sure you have said exactly that.

I use the language I use to my friends. They wouldn't believe me if I used some high-flown literary language. I want them to believe me.

I do chat to my mother in Norwegian, particularly when we want a secret conversation. It is useful that way.

I don't really read as much as I used to. A lot of what I was looking for as an escape I find in writing. And the other thing is that I don't want to get into someone else's language when I'm working

I believe if you want to convey a complex philosophy, its advisable to keep it simple: day-to-day lingo.

Images are probably the most important part of the poem. First of all you want to tell a story, but images are what are going to shore it up and get to the heart of the matter.

I don't really care about plot; I want to have a page-turner in a different kind of way.

I have never been able to understand why perfectly sensible people waste time being wittily obscure instead of just saying what they want and going on about their business.

I think you got to keep in mind that Obama was raised among Muslims, and I think he really does not want to use the word war on terror because he was raised in that community.

Dear friends, whenever you want to understand a text of Scripture, try to read the original

I think dialects should be left alone. People should write in whatever dialect they feel they want to write. In the fullness of time, these dialects will sort themselves out.

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or writing is a code

When you have a different name, people just kind of take the liberty to spell it how they want.

When I write characters, I need to hear their voice. As soon as I get them speaking, and I feel how they use language, I understand who they are and what they want.

I get offered a World War II movie at least once a week just because I speak German and was born there. I have always stayed away from it because I didn't want to be put into that box.

There are a lot of latchkey kids. I don't want to be sitting there when a guy blurts something out over the TV and have my daughters ask me what those words mean.

Idioms are a big thing in Ireland. They want to fill the time, to show how good they are at talk - it's a talk-off

Prudent readers will do well to hold Three Weeks at arm's length, unless they want to be cut by flying adjectives.

Murky language means someone wants to pick your pocket.