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Language

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Quotations

George CarlinBy and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.

—  George Carlin, 1936-2008, American comedian

22 likes
Timothy LearyThe language of God is not English or Latin; the language of God is cellular and molecular.

—  Timothy Leary, 1920-1996, American psychologist

5 likes
Emile M. CioranI dream of a language whose words, like fists, would fracture jaws.

—  Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher

5 likes
Noam ChomskyLanguage etches the grooves through which your thoughts must flow.

—  Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist

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Ludwig WittgensteinThe limits of my language mean the limits of my world.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

4 likes
Ludwig WittgensteinThe aim of philosophy is to erect a wall at the point where language stops anyway.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

4 likes
Wolfgang GoetheHe who does not speak foreign languages knows nothing about his own.

—  Wolfgang Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & philosopher

4 likes
Will DurantNo language has ever had a word for a virgin man.

—  Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher

4 likes
Henry de MontherlantIt is by the audacity of their grammatical mistakes that we recognize the great writers.

—  Henry de Montherlant, 1895-1972, French writer

4 likes
Dionysios SolomosI have nothing in my mind except liberty and language.

—  Dionysios Solomos, 1797-1857, Greek poet

4 likes
Ludwig WittgensteinLanguage disguises thought.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

4 likes
Paul ValeryPoetry is a separate language, or more specifically, a language within a language.

—  Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet

3 likes
Jean Jacques RousseauAccent is the soul of language; it gives to it both feeling and truth.

—  Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778, Swiss-French philosopher

3 likes
Ludwig WittgensteinTo imagine a language is to imagine a form of life.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

3 likes
Saul BellowLanguage is a spiritual mansion in which you live and nobody has the right to evict you.

—  Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976

3 likes
Michael CaineMy dialogue coach said to do a Texas accent, you lean on the next word, and that was the clue to me.

—  Michael Caine, 1933-, English actor

3 likes
Karl LagerfeldFashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.

—  Karl Lagerfeld, 1933-2019, German fashion designer

3 likes
Will DurantThe earliest uses of writing in Greece were probably commercial or religious; apparently priestly charms and chants are the mother of poetry, and bills of lading are the father of prose.

—  Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher

3 likes
Pitigrilli (Dino Segre)Grammar: a complicated structure that teaches language but impedes speaking.

—  Pitigrilli (Dino Segre), 1893-1975, Italian writer

2 likes
Samuel JohnsonLanguage is the dress of thought.

—  Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer

2 likes
Friedrich NietzscheIt is very strange of God to learn Greek when He decided to become a writer and then to learn it so badly.

—  Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher

2 likes
Samuel JohnsonLanguage is the pedigree of nations.

—  Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer

2 likes
Samuel JohnsonGreek, sir, is like lace; every man gets as much of it as he can.

—  Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer

2 likes
Jacques LacanThe unconscious is structured like a language.

—  Jacques Lacan, 1901-1981, French psychoanalyst

2 likes
Alfred North WhiteheadThe mentality of mankind and the language of mankind created each other.

—  Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947, British philosopher & mathematician

2 likes
Karl KrausLanguage is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden.

—  Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer

2 likes
Karl KrausMy language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.

—  Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer

2 likes
George Bernard ShawThe United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.

—  George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925

2 likes
Bertrand RussellLanguage serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts which could not exist without it.

—  Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British philosopher

Ludwig WittgensteinLike everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found in the grammar of the language.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

Ludwig WittgensteinPhilosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

Ludwig WittgensteinAn entire mythology is stored within our language.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

Franz KafkaAll language is but a poor translation

—  Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer

George EliotI beg your pardon: correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays. And the strongest slang of all is the slang of poets.

—  George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer

Ambrose BierceDictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic.

—  Ambrose Bierce, 1842–1914, American writer

Joseph JoubertMusic has seven letters, writing has twenty-six notes

—  Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824, French author of maxims

Oliver W. Holmes Sr.Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.

—  Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer

William Hazlitt We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it. This is the reason why it is so difficult for any but natives to speak a language correctly or idiomatically.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Terry PratchettWe are trying to unravel the Mighty Infinite using a language which was designed to tell one another where the fresh fruit was.

—  Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer

Theodore AdornoHistory does not merely touch on language, but takes place in it.

—  Theodore Adorno, 1903-1969, German philosopher

Martin HeideggerLanguage is the house of Being. In its home man dwells. Those who think and those who create with words are the guardians of this home.

—  Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, German philosopher

W.H. AudenAs a poet, there is only one political duty, and that is to defend one’s language from corruption.

—  W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet

W.H. AudenA poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

—  W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet

Marshall McLuhanLanguage does for intelligence what the wheel does for the feet and the body. It enables them to move from thing to thing with greater ease and speed and ever less involvement.

—  Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist

Marshall McLuhanNobody ever made a grammatical error in a non-literate society.

—  Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist

Marshall McLuhanThe Greeks invented both their artistic and scientific novelties after the interiorization of the alphabet.

—  Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist

D. H. LawrenceWhen I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language.

—  D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, British writer

Jorge Luis BorgesThe original is unfaithful to the translation.

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

Jorge Luis BorgesThe dictionary is based on the hypothesis – obviously an unproven one – that languages are made up of equivalent synonyms.

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

Arthur KoestlerLanguage can become a screen which stands between the thinker and reality. This is the reason why true creativity often starts where language ends.

—  Arthur Koestler, 1905-1983, Hungarian-British writer

José SaramagoHuman vocabulary is still not capable, and probably never will be, of knowing, recognizing, and communicating everything that can be humanly experienced and felt.

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

George HerbertThe eyes have one language everywhere.

—  George Herbert, 1593-1633, Welsh poet

Marguerite YourcenarAll terms about love have Greek etymology. Only sex doesn't have.

—  Marguerite Yourcenar, 1903-1987, French writer

StendhalWhatever diplomats and poets may say, the most important trait of language is clarity.

—  Stendhal, 1783-1842, French writer

Simone WeilA mind enclosed in language is in prison.

—  Simone Weil, 1909-1943, French philosopher

Italo CalvinoThe unconscious is the ocean of the unsayable, of what has been expelled from the land of language, removed as a result of ancient prohibitions.

—  Italo Calvino, 1923-1985, Italian writer

Helen KellerIf it is true that the violin is the most perfect of musical instruments, then Greek is the violin of human thought.

—  Helen Keller, 1880-1968, American writer

Ludwig WittgensteinIf a lion could talk, we could not understand him.

—  Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher

Joseph JoubertLogic is to grammar what the meaning of the words is to their sound.

—  Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824, French author of maxims

Thomas SowellToo many Republicans treat English as a second language, with Beltway lingo being their native tongue.

—  Thomas Sowell, 1930 -, American political thinker

Personal Stories

Marlen DietrichThe Germans and I no longer speak the same language.

—  Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress

4 likes

Latin Quotes

Latin phraseAnything said in Latin sounds profound.

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

—  Latin phrase

59 likes

Quotes in Verse

RumiThis is how it always is when I finish a poem.
A great silence overcomes me
and I wonder why I ever thought to use language.

—  Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet

4 likes
T. S. EliotFor last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.

—  T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948

3 likes

Funny Quotes

Mark TwainIn Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language.

—  Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer

5 likes
Marlen DietrichIn language gender is particularly confusing. Why, please, should a table be male in German, female in French, and castrated in English?

—  Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress

2 likes
Richard LedererLet’s face it, English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

—  Richard Lederer, 1938-, American writer

Franklin P. JonesIt's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.

—  Franklin P. Jones, 1908-1980, American columnist




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