Language(Related Subjects: English, Writing, Books, Poetry, Quotations)

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818), letter to John Adams, 1774 He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met. Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one. Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. (1900 - 1965), speech to Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 1952 Words are the physicians of the mind diseased. Aeschylus (525 BC - 456 BC), Prometheus Bound Language is the source of misunderstandings. Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944) Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in a few words. Aprocrypha High thoughts must have high language. Aristophanes (450 BC - 388 BC), Frogs, 405 B.C. Grasp the subject, the words will follow. Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC) Use soft words and hard arguments. English Proverb A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things. Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change. Ingrid Bengis When ideas fail, words come in very handy. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) Deeds, not words shall speak me. John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking. John Maynard Keynes (1883 - 1946) The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand. Lewis Thomas (1913 - 1993) Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain. Lily Tomlin (1939 - ) We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language. Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Canterville Ghost, 1882 Words have a longer life than deeds. Pindar (522 BC - 443 BC), Nemean Odes Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides. Rita Mae Brown, Starting From Scratch, 1988 Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing. Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945) No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut. Sam Rayburn (1882 - 1961) Do not accustom yourself to use big words for little matters. Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784) Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all. Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939) Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood. William Penn (1644 - 1718) I understand a fury in your words,But not the words. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Othello", Act 4 scene 2 My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Hamlet", Act 3 scene 3 They have been at a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Love's Labour's Lost", Act 5 scene 1