The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean

The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean

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.

Language is a form of human reason, which has its internal logic of which man knows nothing.

Language is a form of human reason, which has its internal logic of which man knows nothing.

Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.

Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.

Language is the only instrument of science, and words are but the
signs of ideas.

Language is the only instrument of science, and words are but the
signs of ideas.

For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies read more

For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it.

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.

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

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

There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very
gesture.

There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very
gesture.