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Language quotes

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“He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.” James Joyce, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” - 1916

“You do not immortalize the lost by writing about them. Language buries, but does not resurrect.” John Green, “The Fault in Our Stars” - 2012

“A definition is the enclosing a wilderness of idea within a wall of words.” Samuel Butler, “The Note-Books of Samuel Butler” - 1912

“Teach me to speak the language of men.” Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes” - 1912

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” - 1921

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet” - 1597

“Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” - 1946

“The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“The proper name for the thing is modesty; but as we live in an age of prejudice and must not call things by their right names, we will yield to a more modern nomenclature and call it dignity.” G. K. Chesterton, “What's Wrong with the World” - 1910

“But remember, language is man’s way of communication with other people and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals.” Maya Angelou, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” - 1969

“My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in observing the manners and dispositions of the people, as well as learning their language;...” Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver's Travels” - 1726

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.” Confucius, “Analects”

“Only the language of civilized people may be spoken, thus no German.” Anne Frank, “The Diary of a Young Girl” - 1947

Related topics

words truth politics men death music modesty speech success naming meaning reading world communication dignity books writing lies civilization loss

Related authors

George Orwell (2)
William Shakespeare (1)
James Joyce (1)
John Green (1)
G. K. Chesterton (1)
Maya Angelou (1)
Jonathan Swift (1)
Confucius (1)
Samuel Butler (1)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1)
Anne Frank (1)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1)

Related sources

Romeo and Juliet (1)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1)
Politics and the English Language (1)
1984 (1)
The Fault in Our Stars (1)
What's Wrong with the World (1)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1)
Gulliver's Travels (1)
Analects (1)
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1)
Tarzan of the Apes (1)
The Diary of a Young Girl (1)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1)