The newspaper is the natural enemy of the book, as the whore is of the decent woman.

Methinks the human method of expression by sound of tongue is very elementary and ought to be substituted for some ingenious invention which should be able to give vent to at least six coherent sentences at once.

When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.

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

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.

The chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.

It is a luxury to be understood.

No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.

History does not merely touch on language, but takes place in it.

Under all speech that is good for anything, there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as eternity; speech is shallow as time.

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.

Anyone who doesn’t know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.

In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.