Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.

The gift of a common tongue is a priceless inheritance and it may well some day become the foundation of a common citizenship.

Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies.

Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.

Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don’t even arise.

Man is the one name belonging to every nation upon earth: there is one soul and many tongues, one spirit and various sounds; every country has its own speech, but the subjects of speech are common to all.

Unexemplary words and unfounded doctrines are avoided by the noble person. Why utter them?

It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work.

Language is the archives of history.

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Language is the house of being. In its home human beings dwell. Those who think and those who create with words are the guardians of this home.

The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They indeed are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them.