We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our read more

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

When a language creates -- as it does -- a community within the present, it does so only by courtesy read more

When a language creates -- as it does -- a community within the present, it does so only by courtesy of a community between the present and the past.

And who in time knows whither we may vent the treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores this gain read more

And who in time knows whither we may vent the treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores this gain of our best glories shall be sent, 't unknowing Nations with our stores? What worlds in the yet unformed Occident may come refined with the accents that are ours?

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

And who in time knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
read more

And who in time knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent,
T' enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in th' yet unformed Occident
May come refin'd with th' accents that are ours?

If language had been the creation not of poetry but of logic, we should only have one.

If language had been the creation not of poetry but of logic, we should only have one.

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes; and thanks to words, we have often sunk read more

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes; and thanks to words, we have often sunk to the level of the demons.

Words are the leaves of the tree of language, of which, if some fall away, a new succession takes their read more

Words are the leaves of the tree of language, of which, if some fall away, a new succession takes their place.