Quotes About Language

The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produces no concept; therefore, it is dumb.

And this? Aldhelm of Malmesbury. Listen to this page: 'Primitus pantorum procerum poematorum pio potissimum paternoque presertim privilegio panegiricum poemataque passim prosatori sub polo promulgatas.' ... The words all begin with the same letter! The men of my islands are all a bit mad, William said proudly.

Über die deutsche Sprache: "Sie halten sich für tief, weil ihre Sprache unklar ist, ihr fehlt die clarté der französischen Sprache, sie sagt nie exakt das, was sie sollte, so dass kein Deutscher jemals weiß, was er sagen wollte – und dann verwechselt er diese Undeutlichkeit mit Tiefe. Es ist mit Deutschen wie mit Frauen, man gelangt bei ihnen nie auf den Grund

The good of a book lies in it being read. A Book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in turn speak of things.

Hypotyposis is the rhetorical effect by which words succeed in rendering a visual scene.

Rem tene, verba sequentur: grasp the subject, and the words will follow. This, I believe, is the opposite of what happens with poetry, which is more a case of verba tene, res sequentur. grasp the words, and the subject will follow.

In America you don't say, "Give me another coffee"; you ask for "More coffee"; you don't say that cigarette A is longer than cigarette B, but that there's "more" of it, more than you're used to having, more than you might want, leaving a surplus to throw away—that's prosperity.

William made an ejaculation in his own language that I didn't understand, nor did the abbot understand it, and perhaps it was best for us both, because the word William uttered had an obscene hissing sound.

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus. -Yesterday's rose endures in its name, we hold empty names.

metaphor is not only a means of delight but also, and above all, a tool of cognition...

There are words that give power, others that make us all the more derelict

Bacon was right in saying that the conquest of learning is achieved through the knowledge of languages.

The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb. This

If there is something paradoxical, in the sense of curious or bizarre, it is that the word paradox has two fairly different meanings: one which is used in logic and philosophy, and the other in rhetoric.

Oh, what a harmony of abandonment and impulse, of unnatural and yet graceful postures, in that mystical language of limbs miraculously freed from the weight of corporeal matter, marked quantity infused with new substantial form, as if the holy band were struck by an impetuous wind, breath of life, frenzy of delight, rejoicing song of praise miraculously transformed, from the sound that it was, into image.

the given language is power because it compels me to use already formulated stereotypes, including words themselves, and that it is structured so fatally that, slaves inside it, we cannot free ourselves outside it, because outside the given language there is nothing. How can we escape what Barthes calls, Sartre-like, this huis clos ? By cheating. You can cheat the given language. This dishonest and healthy and liberating trick is called literature.

luther, he ruined the bible by translating it into their own language.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously three old owls on a chest of drawers were screwing the daughter of the doctor. But then the mother called them, colorless green ideas slepp furiously.

No cierres mis labios abriendo los tuyos.

La lingua dell'Europa è la traduzione / The language of Europe is translation / Die Sprache Europas ist die Übersetzung.

En mi época, quienes sabían alemán ya no se licenciaban. Se pasaban el resto de su vida sabiendo alemán. Creo que hoy en día sucede lo mismo con el chino. —Yo lo conozco poco, por eso hago mi tesis.

Often books speak of books.

By studying the human signifying activity it influences its course.

recognize the evidence through which the world speaks to us like a great book.