--- title: "4 English language Quotes By Bill Bryson" description: "4 English language quotes by Bill Bryson. Plus more from Bill Bryson and more English language sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/bill-bryson-340_change_one-of-the-undoubted-virtues-of-english_773209.jpg" --- > [“One of the undoubted virtues of English is that it is a fluid and democratic language in which meanings shift and change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/one-of-the-undoubted-virtues-of-english-is-that-it-is-a-fluid-and/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/bill-bryson-340_change_one-of-the-undoubted-virtues-of-english_773209.jpg) > [“All Indo-European languages have the capacity to form compounds. Indeed, German and Dutch do it, one might say, to excess. But English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/all-indo-european-languages-have-the-capacity-to-form-compounds/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/bill-bryson-340_english-language_all-indo-european-languages-have-the-cap_1030803.png) > [Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/making-english-grammar-conform-to-latin-rules-is-like-asking-people/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/bill-bryson-340_asking_making-english-grammar-conform-to-latin_1161116.png) > [English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confusing-for-the-one-very-simple-2/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/bill-bryson-340_common_english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confus_3191679.png) ## Other authors on English language - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-mahatma-gandhi-62675.jpg) Mahatma Gandhi 54 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/mahatma-gandhi/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-fry-87000.jpg) Stephen Fry 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/stephen-fry/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-dining-table-was-a-plain-board-called-by-that-name-it-was-hung-on/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“From almost nothing, France in four years built up an aircraft industry that employed nearly 200,000 people and produced some 70,000 planes. Britain built…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/from-almost-nothing-france-in-four-years-built-up-an-aircraft/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/bill-bryson/#itemlist", "name": "4 English language Quotes By Bill Bryson", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“One of the undoubted virtues of English is that it is a fluid and democratic language in which meanings shift and change in response to the pressures of common usage rather than the dictates of committees. It is a natural process that has been going on for centuries. 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