Language

Explore 31 quotes about Language

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either; yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs, and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; So strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which perhaps, no longer exists.

William Jones

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Topic

Language

Speaker

William Jones

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1786 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jones, William. Discourse on the history and culture of the Hindus. Third annual discourse before the Asiatic Society. 2 Feb. 1786, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:9

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Read this verse at Bible Hub

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Topic

Linguistic diversity Language

Source

Genesis The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Hebrew

Time

1405 BC 1400s BC 15th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, 1982. (Genesis 11:9).

People suppose that words are different from the peeps of baby birds, but is there any difference, or isn't there?

Zhuangzi

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Topic

Man and animals Language

Author

Zhuangzi

Language

Chinese

Time

220 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Zhou, Zhuang. Discussion on Making All Things Equal. c. 221 BC.

He who does not know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Read Maxims and Reflections at Project Gutenberg (maxim no. 414)

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Topic

Foreign languages Language

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Language

German

Time

1821 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Ueber Kunst und Altersthum [From Art and Antiquity]. 1821, vol. 3, issue 1.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Maxims and Reflections, translated by Elizabeth Stopp, edited by Peter Hutchinson. Penguin Books, 2005.

All words are pegs to hang ideas on.

Henry Ward Beecher

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Topic

Language Words

Author

Henry Ward Beecher

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Beecher, Henry Ward. "The Human Mind." Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit. D. Appleton and Company, 1887.

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

Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Topic

Limits of knowledge Language Philosophy

Author

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Source

Philosophical Investigations

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophische Untersuchungen [Philosophical Investigations]. Suhrkamp, 1953, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations, translated by G. E. M. Anscombe, et. al., edited by P. M. S. Hacker and Joachim Schulte. Wiley Blackwell, 2009, pt. 1.

Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.

Samuel Beckett

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Topic

Silence is golden Silence Words Language

Author

Samuel Beckett

Source

Vogue

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Beckett, Samuel. "Samuel Beckett Talks About Beckett." Vogue, Dec. 1969.

Language and our thought-grooves are inextricably interwoven, are, in a sense, one and the same.

Edward Sapir

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Topic

Language and thought Language

Author

Edward Sapir

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sapir, Edward. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921, ch. 10.

Language, that most human invention, can enable what, in principle, should not be possible. It can allow all of us, even the congenitally blind, to see with another person’s eyes.

Oliver Sacks

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Topic

Language Empathy Interconnectedness of all people The human condition

Author

Oliver Sacks

Source

The Mind's Eye

Language

English

Time

2010 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sacks, Oliver. The Mind's Eye. Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.

Were a language ever completely "grammatical," it would be a perfect engine of conceptual expression. Unfortunately, or luckily, no language is tyrannically consistent. All grammars leak.

Edward Sapir

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Topic

Language

Author

Edward Sapir

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sapir, Edward. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921, ch. 2.

I learned precision of language from Japanese poetry.

Octavio Paz

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Topic

Language Japanese poetry Poetry

Author

Octavio Paz

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Obituary Newspaper

Language

Spanish

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Paz, Octavio. "Octavio Paz, Mexico's Literary Giant, Dead at 84." Written by Jonathan Kandell. The New York Times, 21 Apr. 1998, https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/21/books/octavio-paz-mexico-s-man-of-letters-dies-at-84.html