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

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.

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.

Spoken language is merely a series of squeaks.

Spoken language is merely a series of squeaks.

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.

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

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

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?

Pedantry consists in the use of words unsuitable to the time,
place, and company.

Pedantry consists in the use of words unsuitable to the time,
place, and company.