He has strangled
His language in his tears.

He has strangled
His language in his tears.

I have been a believer in the magic of language since, at a very early age, I discovered that some read more

I have been a believer in the magic of language since, at a very early age, I discovered that some words got me into trouble and others got me out.

Grammar, which knows how to lord it over kings, and with high
hands makes them obey its laws.
read more

Grammar, which knows how to lord it over kings, and with high
hands makes them obey its laws.
[Fr., La grammaire, qui sait regenter jusqu'aux rois,
Et les fait, la main haute, obeir a ses lois.]

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.

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 is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.

Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.

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?

The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib.

The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib.

All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar's teeth.

All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar's teeth.