--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even the language to which a man is born…" description: "\"“Even the language to which a man is born and in which he makes known his wants is a foreign language. What goes on in the head still must be translate..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg" --- # Even the language to which a man is born and in which he… ![“Even the language to which a man is born and in which he makes known his wants is a foreign language. What goes on in the head still must be translated by words and symbols, far too inadequate, far too few, and far too exasperating.” quote by Harry W. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg) > ““Even the language to which a man is born and in which he makes known his wants is a foreign language. What goes on in the head still must be translated by words and symbols, far too inadequate, far too few, and far too exasperating.”” Harry W. Wilson ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language limits our ability to fully convey inner thoughts, often leaving us frustrated by inadequate symbols. **In simple terms:** Words can’t fully capture what we think. Key Takeaway Seek non‑verbal ways to express yourself. Themes communication philosophy language limits expression Mood thoughtful frustrated inquisitive Type Foreign language:0 Language:1 Translated:0 Translated Words:0 Language Man:0 Head Translated:0 When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - artistic expression Key Concepts semiotics cognitive linguistics symbolic representation Questions to Reflect On - How do you convey feelings beyond words? - What symbols help you express inner thoughts? A Different Perspective Language may be insufficient for deep emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Foreign language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-language/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [Somehow, what's in our hearts, good or bad is eventually translated into words and deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/somehow-what-s-in-our-hearts-good-or-bad-is-eventually-translated/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement . . . says heaven and earth in one word . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/poetry-is-the-language-in-which-man-explores-his-own-amazement-says/) [Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/) > [“A man who has to forge his own tools, his own language, is a man who is going somewhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/a-man-who-has-to-forge-his-own-tools-his-own-language-is-a-man-who-is/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [Ballet is not technique, not a way of doing things, but a means of expression that comes perhaps more closely to the inner language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ballet-is-not-technique-not-a-way-of-doing-things-but-a-means-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Now no one is going to make you talk--possibly no one can. But bear in mind, language is man's way of communicating with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/now-no-one-is-going-to-make-you-talk-possibly-no-one-can-but-bear-in/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Each man is contained and constrained, on entering social life, to fit his own life in, just as he fits his words and thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-finkielkraut/each-man-is-contained-and-constrained-on-entering-social-life-to-fit/) [Alain Finkielkraut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-finkielkraut/) > [Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/poetry-is-a-language-in-which-man-explores-his-own-amazement/) [Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/) > [One of the things I like about my job is that it draws on the entire person: not just your knowledge of grammar and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-norris/one-of-the-things-i-like-about-my-job-is-that-it-draws-on-the-entire/) [Mary Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-norris/) > [“The Actor, noticing a closed bookshop, dismounted from the horse which he tied to a street lamp. He woke up the bookseller and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-limbour/the-actor-noticing-a-closed-bookshop-dismounted-from-the-horse-which/) [Georges Limbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-limbour/) > [I have a one-question language test that people who have lived abroad do better on than those who studied in a classroom. Try my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-kristof/i-have-a-one-question-language-test-that-people-who-have-lived-abroad/) [Nicholas Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-kristof/) > [As the president of Kosovo, I am more concerned about the current situation with the employment standing at around 70 % of the population,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-rugova/as-the-president-of-kosovo-i-am-more-concerned-about-the-current/) [Ibrahim Rugova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-rugova/) > [The immense value of becoming acquainted with a foreign language is that we are thereby led into a new world of tradition and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-immense-value-of-becoming-acquainted-with-a-foreign-language-is/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen.He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/wer-fremde-sprachen-nicht-kennt-weiss-nichts-von-seiner-eigenen-he/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Columbia University, where I went to study in 1993, insisted its undergraduates learn a foreign language, so I discovered French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aravind-adiga/columbia-university-where-i-went-to-study-in-1993-insisted-its/) [Aravind Adiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aravind-adiga/) > [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 ## More Foreign 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 > [Columbia University, where I went to study in 1993, insisted its undergraduates learn a foreign language, so I discovered French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aravind-adiga/columbia-university-where-i-went-to-study-in-1993-insisted-its/) [Aravind Adiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aravind-adiga/) > [“Hear me now or regret it later: Everything you write must be read aloud. Once all the context items are in place, this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiro-adachi/hear-me-now-or-regret-it-later-everything-you-write-must-be-read/) Jiro Adachi > [Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen.He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/wer-fremde-sprachen-nicht-kennt-weiss-nichts-von-seiner-eigenen-he/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The immense value of becoming acquainted with a foreign language is that we are thereby led into a new world of tradition and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-immense-value-of-becoming-acquainted-with-a-foreign-language-is/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [As the president of Kosovo, I am more concerned about the current situation with the employment standing at around 70 % of the population,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-rugova/as-the-president-of-kosovo-i-am-more-concerned-about-the-current/) [Ibrahim Rugova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-rugova/) > [I have a one-question language test that people who have lived abroad do better on than those who studied in a classroom. Try my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-kristof/i-have-a-one-question-language-test-that-people-who-have-lived-abroad/) [Nicholas Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-kristof/) > [“Under ordinary circumstances, we learn to speak before we learn to read, and anyone who has tried to learn a foreign language knows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kory-stamper/under-ordinary-circumstances-we-learn-to-speak-before-we-learn-to/) [Kory Stamper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kory-stamper/) > [“The Actor, noticing a closed bookshop, dismounted from the horse which he tied to a street lamp. He woke up the bookseller and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-limbour/the-actor-noticing-a-closed-bookshop-dismounted-from-the-horse-which/) [Georges Limbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-limbour/) > [One of the things I like about my job is that it draws on the entire person: not just your knowledge of grammar and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-norris/one-of-the-things-i-like-about-my-job-is-that-it-draws-on-the-entire/) [Mary Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-norris/) > [“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-obvious-cure-for-the-tragic-shortcomings-of-human-intuition-in-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Modern man is educated to understand foreign languages and misunderstand foreigners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/modern-man-is-educated-to-understand-foreign-languages-and/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I think most Israelis prefer not to know. So for them, texts about the occupation are like something that's been written in a foreign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amira-hass/i-think-most-israelis-prefer-not-to-know-so-for-them-texts-about-the/) [Amira Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amira-hass/) > [“You are so young, so much before all beginning, and I would like to beg you, dear Sir, as well as I can, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/you-are-so-young-so-much-before-all-beginning-and-i-would-like-to-beg/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [The language skill in the U.S. for the most part has been awful. Many Americans don't learn any foreign language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-schwarzman/the-language-skill-in-the-u-s-for-the-most-part-has-been-awful-many/) [Stephen A. Schwarzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-schwarzman/) [Browse all 281 Foreign language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Even the language to which a man is born and in which he makes known his wants is a foreign language. What goes on in the head still must be translated by words and symbols, far too inadequate, far too few, and far too exasperating.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harry W. Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-w-wilson/even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born-and-in-which-he-makes-known/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Foreign language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-w-wilson/even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born-and-in-which-he-makes-known/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/harry-w-wilson-241680_foreign-language_even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born_444559.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even the language to which a man is born and in which he makes known his wants is a foreign language. What…” — Harry W. Wilson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Harry W. Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-w-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Even the language to which a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-w-wilson/even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born-and-in-which-he-makes-known/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-w-wilson/even-the-language-to-which-a-man-is-born-and-in-which-he-makes-known/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```