« All Language Quotes · Edward Sapir's Page
Language Quotes by Edward Sapir
- The psychology of a language which, in one way or another, is imposed upon one because of factors beyond one's control, is very different from…
- We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.
- Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much…
- Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.
- A standard international language should not only be simple, regular, and logical, but also rich and creative.
- As a matter of fact, a national language which spreads beyond its own confines very quickly loses much of its original richness of content and…
- Both French and Latin are involved with nationalistic and religious implications which could not be entirely shaken off, and so, while they seemed for a…
- English, once accepted as an international language, is no more secure than French has proved to be as the one and only accepted language of…
- Language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations.
- The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group.
- It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental…
- It would, of course, be hopeless to attempt to crowd into an international language all those local overtones of meaning which are so dear to…
- It is no secret that the fruits of language study are in no sort of relation to the labour spent on teaching and learning them.
- No important national language, at least in the Occidental world, has complete regularity of grammatical structure, nor is there a single logical category which is…
- The attitude of independence toward a constructed language which all national speakers must adopt is really a great advantage, because it tends to make man…
- In a sense, every form of expression is imposed upon one by social factors, one's own language above all.
- National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry.
- The spirit of logical analysis should in practice blend with the practical pressure for the adoption of some form of international language, but it should…
- So far as the advocates of a constructed international language are concerned, it is rather to be wondered at how much in common their proposals…
- No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality.
- A common creation demands a common sacrifice, and perhaps not the least potent argument in favour of a constructed international language is the fact that…
- The supposed inferiority of a constructed language to a national one on the score of richness of connotation is, of course, no criticism of the…
More Language Quotes
- Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by… — Hannah Arendt
- High thoughts must have high language. — Aristophanes
- In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement… — Aristotle
- But I liked Yeats! That wild Irishman. I really loved his love of language, his flow. His chaotic ideas seemed to me… — Chinua Achebe
- War is what happens when language fails. — Margaret Atwood
- As soon as you have a language that has a past tense and a future tense you're going to say, 'Where did… — Margaret Atwood
- A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language. — Wystan Hugh Auden
- A poem records emotions and moods that lie beyond normal language, that can only be patched together and hinted at metaphorically. — Diane Ackerman
- The finest command of language is often shown by saying nothing. — Roger Babson
- A special kind of beauty exists which is born in language, of language, and for language. — Gaston Bachelard
- In any area of the U.N. we... have to agree on certain language that can represent the same spirit, but that can… — Michelle Bachelet
- An inability to stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind. — Walter Bagehot