--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Language [can] be expressed . . . by…" description: "\"Language [can] be expressed . . . by movements of the hands and face just as well as by the small, sound-generating movements of the throat and mouth. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d1/harlan-lane-110195_ability_language-can-be-expressed-by-movements-o_1734575.png" --- # Language \[can\] be expressed . . . by movements of the… ![“Language [can] be expressed . . . by movements of the hands and face just as well as by the small, sound-generating movements of the throat and mouth. Then the first criterion for language that I had learned as a student—it is spoken and heard—was wrong; and, more important, language did not…” quote by Harlan Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d1/harlan-lane-110195_ability_language-can-be-expressed-by-movements-o_1734575.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d1/harlan-lane-110195_ability_language-can-be-expressed-by-movements-o_1734575.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d1/harlan-lane-110195_ability_language-can-be-expressed-by-movements-o_1734575.png) > “Language \[can\] be expressed . . . by movements of the hands and face just as well as by the small, sound-generating movements of the throat and mouth. Then the first criterion for language that I had learned as a student—it is spoken and heard—was wrong; and, more important, language did not depend on our ability to speak and hear but must be a more abstract capacity of the brain. It was the brain that had language, and if that capacity was blocked in one channel, it would emerge through another.” [Harlan Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-lane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that language is an abstract brain capacity, not limited to speech or hearing, and can manifest through other modalities. **In simple terms:** Language is a brain‑based abstract ability, beyond speech. Key Takeaway Recognize non‑verbal communication forms. Themes language cognition modality brain abstract communication neuroscience Mood analytical insightful Type Ability:1 Ability to speak:0 Abstract:1 Blocked:0 Brain:1 Capacity:1 Criteria:0 Depends:0 Faces:0 Firsts:0 Hands:0 Heard:0 Ifs:0 Important:0 Language:1 Mouths:0 Movement:0 Sound:0 Speak:0 Spoken:0 Students:0 Throat:0 Wells:0 Language Did:0 Brain Language:0 Language Learned:0 Language Expressed:0 When to use this quote - sign language - facial expression - assistive tech - education Key Concepts psychology linguistics neuroscience Questions to Reflect On - How can we broaden language definition? - What modalities are overlooked? A Different Perspective Non‑verbal language may be undervalued. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Ability to speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-to-speak/) [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Blocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blocked/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Brain Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-language-1085844/) [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Criteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criteria/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-did-571272/) [Language Expressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-expressed-1461489/) [Language Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-learned-1306884/) [Mouths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouths/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Spoken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoken/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Throat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throat/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > ['Tears' the language, which can't be expressed by our words..it expresses the heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghav-singh/tears-the-language-which-can-t-be-expressed-by-our-words-it-expresses/) [Raghav Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghav-singh/) > [Experiments on split-brain patients reveal how readily the left brain interpreter can make up stories and beliefs. In one experiment, for example, when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gazzaniga/experiments-on-split-brain-patients-reveal-how-readily-the-left-brain/) [Michael Gazzaniga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gazzaniga/) > [“But the brain does much more than just recollect it inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes, it generates abstractions. The simplest thought like the concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/but-the-brain-does-much-more-than-just-recollect-it-inter-compares-it/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I have never felt at ease in language. I did not grow up among books or among people who read them. I heard words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lutz/i-have-never-felt-at-ease-in-language-i-did-not-grow-up-among-books/) [Gary Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lutz/) > [There's no bad writing; you did something. I was operating inside language, and I did something. I'm not ashamed of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/there-s-no-bad-writing-you-did-something-i-was-operating-inside/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [He never labored so hard to learn a language as he did to hold his tongue, and it affected him for life. The habit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/he-never-labored-so-hard-to-learn-a-language-as-he-did-to-hold-his/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [I had to learn American sign language. And I did stuff in it, stuff that was just for me and was fun, that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-had-to-learn-american-sign-language-and-i-did-stuff-in-it-stuff/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [If language did not affect behavior, it could have no meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-language-did-not-affect-behavior-it-could-have-no-meaning/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It has always been a mystery to me how Adam, Eve, and the serpent were taught the same language. Where did they get it?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/it-has-always-been-a-mystery-to-me-how-adam-eve-and-the-serpent-were/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [I did my first movie, 'The Mambo Kings,' in America without speaking the language. I learned the lines phonetically. I had an interpreter actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-banderas/i-did-my-first-movie-the-mambo-kings-in-america-without-speaking-the/) [Antonio Banderas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-banderas/) > [“The language I learned was pretty, full of passivity and silence. I had no proper language for the issues of blood and anger, yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-bagley/the-language-i-learned-was-pretty-full-of-passivity-and-silence-i-had/) [Beth Bagley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-bagley/) > [Willem de Kooning paintings are a language to be learned. When they were first shown, they were ridiculed as being just drips and splatters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/willem-de-kooning-paintings-are-a-language-to-be-learned-when-they/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [The first language that I learned was Italian in Italy in the early and middle-'60s and I had to do that to keep up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-first-language-that-i-learned-was-italian-in-italy-in-the-early/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [“Islam was no longer a straitjacket into which I forced myself, nor a nonnative language I learned from others around me, but a grammar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haroon-moghul/islam-was-no-longer-a-straitjacket-into-which-i-forced-myself-nor-a/) [Haroon Moghul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haroon-moghul/) > [I grew up with the piano. I learned its language as I learned to speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-jarrett/i-grew-up-with-the-piano-i-learned-its-language-as-i-learned-to-speak/) [Keith Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-jarrett/) ## More by Harlan Lane > [The interests of the deaf child and his parents may best be served by accepting that he is a deaf person, with an elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-lane/the-interests-of-the-deaf-child-and-his-parents-may-best-be-served-by/) [Harlan Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-lane/) [Explore all 2 Harlan Lane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-lane/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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