We defend ourself with descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.

We defend ourself with descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.

Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is read more

Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.

I stand and listen to people speaking french in the stores and in the street. It's such a pert, crisp read more

I stand and listen to people speaking french in the stores and in the street. It's such a pert, crisp language, elegant as ruffling taffeta.

Fie, fie upon her!
There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip;
Nay, her foot speaks. read more

Fie, fie upon her!
There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip;
Nay, her foot speaks. Her wanton spirits look out
At every joint and motive of her body.

Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has read more

Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages

To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to
my horse--German.

To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to
my horse--German.

Language is a city to the building of which every human being
brought a stone.
- read more

Language is a city to the building of which every human being
brought a stone.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson,

Language. I loved it. And for a long time I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an read more

Language. I loved it. And for a long time I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an ear.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.