--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A truly enlightened attitude to language…" description: "\"“A truly enlightened attitude to language should simply be to let six thousand or more flowers bloom. Subcultures should be allowed to thrive, not just..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/robert-lane-greene-17719_language_a-truly-enlightened-attitude-to-language_2787107.jpg" --- # A truly enlightened attitude to language should simply be… ![“A truly enlightened attitude to language should simply be to let six thousand or more flowers bloom. Subcultures should be allowed to thrive, not just because it is wrong to squash them, because they enrich the wider culture. Just as Black English has left its mark on standard English Culture…” quote by Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/robert-lane-greene-17719_language_a-truly-enlightened-attitude-to-language_2787107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/robert-lane-greene-17719_language_a-truly-enlightened-attitude-to-language_2787107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/robert-lane-greene-17719_language_a-truly-enlightened-attitude-to-language_2787107.jpg) > ““A truly enlightened attitude to language should simply be to let six thousand or more flowers bloom. Subcultures should be allowed to thrive, not just because it is wrong to squash them, because they enrich the wider culture. Just as Black English has left its mark on standard English Culture, South Africans take pride in the marks of Afrikaans and African languages on their vocabulary and syntax. New Zealand's rugby team chants in Maori, dancing a traditional dance, before matches. French kids flirt with rebellion by using verlan, a slang that reverses words' sounds or syllables (so femmes becomes meuf). Argentines glory in lunfardo, an argot developed from the underworld a centyry ago that makes Argentine Spanish unique still today. The nonstandard greeting "Where y'at?" for "How are you?" is so common among certain whites in New Orleans that they bear their difference with pride, calling themselves Yats. And that's how it should be.”” [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Embracing linguistic variety enriches culture, allowing subcultures to flourish and contribute to the broader society. **In simple terms:** Celebrating many dialects strengthens society. Key Takeaway Support and protect diverse language forms. Themes cultural diversity language identity inclusion Mood proud celebratory reflective Type observational inspirational When to use this quote - education curricula - media representation - community events - policy making Key Concepts sociolinguistics creolization cultural hybridity Questions to Reflect On - How does language diversity shape personal identity? - What policies best protect linguistic subcultures? A Different Perspective Language preservation can clash with standardization pressures in official contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [African Languages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/african-languages-529808/) [Afrikaans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afrikaans-686439/) [Attitude Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude-language-3352403/) [Bloom Subcultures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloom-subcultures-3352401/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [New orleans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-orleans/) [South African](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south-african/) [Standard english](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standard-english/) [Subcultures Allowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subcultures-allowed-3352402/) ## Related quotes > [For a writer only one form of patriotism exists: his attitude toward language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/for-a-writer-only-one-form-of-patriotism-exists-his-attitude-toward/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“Afrikaans was the language of the white minority in South Africa, and the forced learning of it created resentment among blacks. Even so, Nelson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/afrikaans-was-the-language-of-the-white-minority-in-south-africa-and/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“This does not in any way close the argument for the development of African languages by the intervention of writers and governments. But we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/this-does-not-in-any-way-close-the-argument-for-the-development-of/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [It is not quite true to say that I am not an advocate of writing in African languages. What I think is, one has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/it-is-not-quite-true-to-say-that-i-am-not-an-advocate-of-writing-in/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [The contribution of West African languages to Ebonics is absolutely infinitesimal. What it actually is is a very interesting hybrid of regional dialects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcwhorter/the-contribution-of-west-african-languages-to-ebonics-is-absolutely/) [John McWhorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcwhorter/) > [You get another person who operates only in an African language and there are many persons who operate only in African languages; he or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ngugi-wa-thiong-o/you-get-another-person-who-operates-only-in-an-african-language-and/) [Ngugi wa Thiong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ngugi-wa-thiong-o/) > [“African languages one third of all the languages of the world,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/african-languages-one-third-of-all-the-languages-of-the-world/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Writing in African languages became a topic of discussion in conferences, in schools, in classrooms; the issue is always being raised - so it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ngugi-wa-thiong-o/writing-in-african-languages-became-a-topic-of-discussion-in/) [Ngugi wa Thiong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ngugi-wa-thiong-o/) > [I can read more languages than I speak! I speak French and Italian - not very well, alas, but I can get by. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/i-can-read-more-languages-than-i-speak-i-speak-french-and-italian-not/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [Lots of people speak Afrikaans. It's not a statement; it's just a language that we use to communicate. It has its own flavour; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yolandi-visser/lots-of-people-speak-afrikaans-it-s-not-a-statement-it-s-just-a/) [Yolandi Visser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yolandi-visser/) > [“It's hard for me to speak, whether in English or Afrikaans. The reason I write is because I cannot speak. I feel blunt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antjie-krog/it-s-hard-for-me-to-speak-whether-in-english-or-afrikaans-the-reason/) [Antjie Krog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antjie-krog/) > [I speak English, obviously, Afrikaans, which is a derivative of Dutch that we have in South Africa. And then I speak African languages. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/i-speak-english-obviously-afrikaans-which-is-a-derivative-of-dutch/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) > [Zef is the underbelly of the Afrikaans culture, but it also, like, is Afrikaans culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watkin-tudor-jones/zef-is-the-underbelly-of-the-afrikaans-culture-but-it-also-like-is/) [Watkin Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watkin-tudor-jones/) > [“We were in a shop once, and the shopkeeper, right in front of us, turned to his security guard and said, in Afrikaans, “Volg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/we-were-in-a-shop-once-and-the-shopkeeper-right-in-front-of-us-turned/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) > [In South Africa, we speak English and sometimes Afrikaans, sometimes Zulu, sometimes Xhosa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watkin-tudor-jones/in-south-africa-we-speak-english-and-sometimes-afrikaans-sometimes/) [Watkin Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watkin-tudor-jones/) ## More by Robert Lane Greene > [“Peeves are like that: my peeves are law, yours are unhealthy obsessions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/peeves-are-like-that-my-peeves-are-law-yours-are-unhealthy-obsessions/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Only 8000 different words appear in the Hebrew Bible, compared to the 20,000 or more that the average adult needs to know in most languages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/only-8000-different-words-appear-in-the-hebrew-bible-compared-to-the/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“If you look at the historical record, you will find that language has always been in decline. Which means, really, and it never has.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/if-you-look-at-the-historical-record-you-will-find-that-language-has/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“to form such harsh unharmonious Sounds, that none but a Northern Ear could endure: They”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/to-form-such-harsh-unharmonious-sounds-that-none-but-a-northern-ear/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Arguments about language are usually arguments about politics, disguised and channeled through one of our most distinctive markers of identity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/arguments-about-language-are-usually-arguments-about-politics/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Afrikaans was the language of the white minority in South Africa, and the forced learning of it created resentment among blacks. Even so, Nelson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/afrikaans-was-the-language-of-the-white-minority-in-south-africa-and/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“I think flexibility, humility, and multilingualism should take the place of sticklerism, arrogance, and nationalism when we think about language. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/i-think-flexibility-humility-and-multilingualism-should-take-the/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Virtually anything can be translated—“X cannot be translated” usually means nothing more exciting than “We have a word, X, that you need three or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/virtually-anything-can-be-translated-x-cannot-be-translated-usually/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“America’s short-lived experiment with language planning is so obscure to modern memory that while the Klingon language has a 3,000-word entry on Wikipedia, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/america-s-short-lived-experiment-with-language-planning-is-so-obscure/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“I'd start to explain with the outward sheepish and inner pride of the nerd.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/i-d-start-to-explain-with-the-outward-sheepish-and-inner-pride-of-the/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Knowing the difference between “infer” and “imply” is no more likely to create a skeptical, bullshit-detecting citizen than knowing the atomic weight of uranium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/knowing-the-difference-between-infer-and-imply-is-no-more-likely-to/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“It is possible to communicate beautifully or boringly, in every language on Earth. But people don't like to believe this. They make self-aggrandizing myths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/it-is-possible-to-communicate-beautifully-or-boringly-in-every/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Language is not law; it is in fact a lot like music. Speech is jazz – first you learn the basic rules, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/language-is-not-law-it-is-in-fact-a-lot-like-music-speech-is-jazz/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Other “no-word-for” and “can’t-be-translated” myths include the stories that the Irish have no word for “sex” or even “yes” (how, one wonders, is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/other-no-word-for-and-can-t-be-translated-myths-include-the-stories/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) > [“Bryson says we have no word for the Danish hygge, then goes on to tell us exactly what it means: “instantly satisfying and cozy”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lane-greene/bryson-says-we-have-no-word-for-the-danish-hygge-then-goes-on-to-tell/) [Robert Lane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) [Explore all 36 Robert Lane Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lane-greene/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“A truly enlightened attitude to language should simply be to let six thousand or more flowers bloom. Subcultures should be allowed to thrive, not just because it is wrong to squash them, because they enrich the wider culture. Just as Black English has left its mark on standard English Culture, South Africans take pride in the marks of Afrikaans and African languages on their vocabulary and syntax. New Zealand's rugby team chants in Maori, dancing a traditional dance, before matches. French kids flirt with rebellion by using verlan, a slang that reverses words' sounds or syllables (so femmes becomes meuf). Argentines glory in lunfardo, an argot developed from the underworld a centyry ago that makes Argentine Spanish unique still today. The nonstandard greeting \"Where y'at?\" for \"How are you?\" is so common among certain whites in New Orleans that they bear their difference with pride, calling themselves Yats. 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