Syllables govern the world.

Syllables govern the world.

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.

The secret of language is the secret of sympathy and its full charm is possible only to the gentle.

The secret of language is the secret of sympathy and its full charm is possible only to the gentle.

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?

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.

The individual's whole experience is built upon the plan of his language.

The individual's whole experience is built upon the plan of his language.

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,

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

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

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