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.

Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter!

Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter!

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.

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

To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to
my horse--German.

To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to
my horse--German.

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?

To a teacher of languages there comes a time when the world is but a place of many words and read more

To a teacher of languages there comes a time when the world is but a place of many words and man appears a mere talking animal not much more wonderful than a parrot.

It's no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase "As pretty as an airport" appear

It's no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase "As pretty as an airport" appear