Language quotes
Welcome to our collection of quotes about Language. Language is a powerful tool that allows us to communicate, express our thoughts, and connect with others. It is the means by which we share our ideas, emotions, stories, and knowledge. When words are carefully chosen and crafted, they have the ability to inspire, motivate, and touch our hearts.
The beauty of language lies in its diversity and richness. Whether it is spoken, written, signed, or expressed through body language, every form of language has its own nuances and charm. From the poetry of Shakespeare to the ancient wisdom of Confucius, language has shaped cultures, preserved history, and captured the essence of the human experience.
In this section, you will find a collection of insightful and thought-provoking quotes about language. They explore various aspects of language, its power to shape our perception, its ability to bridge gaps, and the importance of effective communication. Whether you are a linguistics enthusiast, a writer, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of words, we hope these quotes will inspire you and deepen your understanding of the profound impact language has on our lives.
So, dive into the world of Language and let these quotes spark your curiosity and appreciation for the intricate tapestry of words that weave through our existence.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorObviously, there is pleasure in the execution of any sort of art, and using language, as Nabokov felt also, is an exquisite process.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterThere is an hour of the afternoon when the plain is on the verge of saying something. It never says, or perhaps it says it infinitely, or perhaps we do not understand it, or we understand it and it is untranslatable as music.
Sofia Vergara
— ActressI understand English; I read and write English perfectly, but the accent won't go away.
Sarah Vowell
— AuthorYou know, it's always good to have a synonym just for variety.
Tommy Smothers
— ComedianThere's one word that exists in every language on the face of the Earth and in every society since man began to speak. And the word is truth. And in every language it means exactly the same thing. Truth is . . . what you get other people to believe.
Antonio Machado
— PoetThe only living language is the language in which we think and have our being.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsUse the smallest word that does the job.
Russell Hoban
— Versatile Author & Creative StorytellerLanguage is an archaeological vehicle... the language we speak is a whole palimpsest of human effort and history.
D.T. Suzuki
— Pioneer of Zen Buddhism in the WestThe contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.
M. F. K. Fisher
— Pioneering Food WriterDictionaries are always fun, but not always reassuring.
Timothy Leary
— American psychologist and authorYou cannot use butterfly language to communicate with caterpillars
Joseph Kosuth
— American conceptual artistI am only describing language, not explaining anything.
Pope John XXIII
— Head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in 1963The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.
Craig Stone
— English footballerThe word begone is a Russian doll. A small, single word, which contains so many others; and when all the smaller words inside line up, they look like a bridge: Be Beg Ego Go On One.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorLanguage is the instrument in all cases and can language be trusted?If it were not for language, could we lie?
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterIn general, every country has the language it deserves.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsWell,” said Stuart, “a misspelled word is an abomination in the sight of everyone.
Timothy Leary
— American psychologist and authorThe language of God is not English or Latin; the language of God is cellular and molecular.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorParadox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that we have failed to see it.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterThe dictionary is based on the hypothesis -- obviously an unproven one -- that languages are made up of equivalent synonyms.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsThere is simply a better chance of doing well if the writer holds a steady course, enters the stream of English quietly, and does not thrash about.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorRunning! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be. In running the mind flies with the body; the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterThe word happiness exists in every language; it is plausible the thing itself exists.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsA good many of the special words of business seem designed more to express the user's dreams than to express a precise meaning.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorThe use of language is all we have to pit against death and silence.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterHe thought that the rose was to be found in its own eternity and not in his words; and that we may mention or allude to a thing, but not express it.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsA schoolchild should be taught grammar - for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy. Having learned about the exciting mysteries of an English sentence, the child can then go forth and speak and write any damn way he pleases.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorI can't imagine a mental life, a spiritual existence, not inextricably bound up with language of a formal, mediated nature. Telling stories, choosing an appropriate language with which to tell the story: This seems to me quintessentially human, one of the great adventures of our species.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterIn Spanish it is very difficult to make things flow, because words are over-long. But in English, you have light words.
E. B. White
— Versatile Writer & Author of Beloved ClassicsThe living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change. A cow is under no obligation to stay
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorWhy the need, rising in some very nearly to the level of compulsion, to verify experience by way of language?-to scrupulously record and preserve the very passing of Time?
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterWe did meet forty years ago. At that time we were both influenced by Whitman and I said, jokingly in part, 'I don't think anything can be done in Spanish, do you?' Neruda agreed, but we decided it was too late for us to write our verse in English. We'd have to make the best of a second-rate literature.
Joyce Carol Oates
— AuthorProse-it might be speculated-is discourse; poetry ellipsis. Prose is spoken aloud; poetry overheard. The one is presumably articulate and social, a shared language, the voice of "communication"; the other is private, allusive, teasing, sly, idiosyncratic as the spider's delicate web, a kind of witchcraft unfathomable to ordinary minds.
Jorge Luis Borges
— WriterI think of myself primarily as a reader, then also a writer, but that's more or less irrelevant. I think I'm a good reader, I'm a good reader in many languages, especially in English, since poetry came to me through the English language, initially through my father's love of Swinburn, of Tennyson, and also of Keats, Shelley and so on - not through my native tongue, not through Spanish. It came to me as a kind of spell. I didn't understand it, but I felt it.