--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: language can't be appropriated by one…" description: "\"language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet. The words belong to all of us.\" — Erica Jong" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/erica-jong-445_language_language-can-t-be-appropriated-by-one-pe_612879.jpg" --- # language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet… ![“language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet. The words belong to all of us.” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/erica-jong-445_language_language-can-t-be-appropriated-by-one-pe_612879.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/erica-jong-445_language_language-can-t-be-appropriated-by-one-pe_612879.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/erica-jong-445_language_language-can-t-be-appropriated-by-one-pe_612879.jpg) > “language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet. The words belong to all of us.” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language is a shared resource; no single individual can claim exclusive ownership of words. **In simple terms:** Words belong to everyone. Key Takeaway Respect collective voice. Themes language ownership community Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - public speaking - education - media publishing Key Concepts Intellectual property collective authorship Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure inclusive language? - Who decides who owns words? A Different Perspective Power dynamics can still marginalize voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Power. like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer; it dignifies meanness; it magnifies littleness; to what is contemptible, it gives authority;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/power-like-the-diamond-dazzles-the-beholder-and-also-the-wearer-it/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [In the hands of a great poet, words have ways of affecting us in ways we don't understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/in-the-hands-of-a-great-poet-words-have-ways-of-affecting-us-in-ways/) [Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/) > [“Each young person is a poet of sorts, trying to sort out the poetics of their inner life and its relation to the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-meade/each-young-person-is-a-poet-of-sorts-trying-to-sort-out-the-poetics/) [Michael Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-meade/) > [“I know a person who, though no poet, composed some verses in a very short time, which were full of feeling and admirably descriptive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santa-teresa-de-jes-s/i-know-a-person-who-though-no-poet-composed-some-verses-in-a-very/) [Santa Teresa de Jesús](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santa-teresa-de-jes-s/) > [Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perhaps-no-person-can-be-a-poet-or-can-even-enjoy-poetry-without-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A poet's words are of things that do not exist without the words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-poet-s-words-are-of-things-that-do-not-exist-without-the-words/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“He opened his mouth to speak, finally initiating conversation with me! “’Sup, Viv?” The man was a poet. I had no words. Strike that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-clayton/he-opened-his-mouth-to-speak-finally-initiating-conversation-with-me/) [Alice Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-clayton/) > [Francois Rabelais. He was a poet. And his last words were "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." That's why I'm going. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/francois-rabelais-he-was-a-poet-and-his-last-words-were-i-go-to-seek/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [You ask me where I get my ideas. That I cannot tell you with certainty. They come unsummoned, directly, indirectly - I could seize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/you-ask-me-where-i-get-my-ideas-that-i-cannot-tell-you-with-certainty/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [Hang yourself, poet, in your own words. Otherwise, you are dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/hang-yourself-poet-in-your-own-words-otherwise-you-are-dead/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [“I am a writer because I write, an author because I create, a poet because the words are in my soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-d-gray/i-am-a-writer-because-i-write-an-author-because-i-create-a-poet/) Wesley D. Gray > [“He was in fact a poet without words, the more absorbed and endangered, that the springing waters were dammed back in his soul, where,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/he-was-in-fact-a-poet-without-words-the-more-absorbed-and-endangered/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“I caution against communication because once language exist only to convey information, it is dying. In news articles the relation of the words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hugo/i-caution-against-communication-because-once-language-exist-only-to/) [Richard Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hugo/) > [Words belong to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/words-belong-to-each-other/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [For last years words belong to last years language and next years words await another voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ts-eliot/for-last-years-words-belong-to-last-years-language-and-next-years/) [TS Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ts-eliot/) ## More by Erica Jong > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-writing-poetry-and-teaching-but/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Naomi Wolf dares to explode the myth of 'victim feminism' and pleads for allowing women to be as full of good and bad desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/naomi-wolf-dares-to-explode-the-myth-of-victim-feminism-and-pleads/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I knew I was in England by the smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-knew-i-was-in-england-by-the-smell/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The Lives of Great Men are more oft' at variance with their profess'd Phillosophies than consistent with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-lives-of-great-men-are-more-oft-at-variance-with-their-profess-d/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Women's books are kind of discriminated against. If a man writes a book about his family stories, people think of it as literature. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-s-books-are-kind-of-discriminated-against-if-a-man-writes-a/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Many, many people have done a lot more sexual experimentation than I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/many-many-people-have-done-a-lot-more-sexual-experimentation-than-i/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Is life much too long for an immortal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/is-life-much-too-long-for-an-immortal/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Don't ye know that ev'ry Soul on Earth feels itself to be an Orphan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/don-t-ye-know-that-ev-ry-soul-on-earth-feels-itself-to-be-an-orphan/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/critics-write-out-of-intellectual-exercise-not-poets-poets-write/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/once-i-worshipped-keats-for-dying-young-now-i-think-it-s-braver-to/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Explore all 542 Erica Jong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/) [Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) TimBur > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/) [Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Words can kill you trust towards someone, mind you language people, every reaction had its consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-can-kill-you-trust-towards-someone-mind-you-language-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) [Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet. 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