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.

Don Chaucer. well of English undefyled
On Fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled.

Don Chaucer. well of English undefyled
On Fame's eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled.

If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found the time to conquer the world.

If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found the time to conquer the world.

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.

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.

Language is memory and metaphor.

Language is memory and metaphor.

Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons read more

Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is read more

Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.

And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tailed words in osity and ation.