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.

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.

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

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it

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.

Syllables govern the world.

Syllables govern the world.

Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.

Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them