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English Language Quotes

Browse 432 quotes about English Language.

English Language Quotes

“One man's frankness is another man's vulgarity.”

Men Language One Man English Language Another Man Vulgarity Frankness

Author:Kevin Smith

“A different language is a different vision of life.”

Source: Federico Fellini: Interviews

“English poetry begins whenever we decide to say the modern English language begins, and it extends as far as we decide to say that the English language extends.”

Language Modern English Language Modern English English Poetry

Author:James Fenton

“The existing phrasebooks are inadequate. They are well enough as far as they go, but when you fall down and skin your leg they don't tell you what to say.”

Wells Enough Fall Language Skins Down And Legs English Language Falling Down Inadequate

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)

“If a language is corruptible, then a constitution written in that language is corruptible.”

Ifs Language Written Constitution English Language

Author:Robert Breault

“It is a safe rule to apply that, when a mathematical or philosophical author writes with a misty profundity, he is talking nonsense.”

Writing Language Talking Safe Philosophical Mathematical Nonsense English Language Misty Profundity Talking Nonsense

Author:Alfred North Whitehead

“Learning preserves the errors of the past, as well as its wisdom. For this reason, dictionaries are public dangers, although they are necessities.”

Wells Reason Past Language Danger Errors Preserves English Language Dictionary

Book:Science and Philosophy

Source: Science and Philosophy

“The English language is more complex than calculus because numbers don't have nuances.”

Language Numbers Complexes English Language Nuance Calculus

Book:Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit

Source: Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit

“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.”

People Way Matter Action Language Conscious Bother English Language

Book:All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays

Source: All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays

“You know, we have main English language parties, federalist parties, and traditionally the ones to watch would be the Conservatives, who form the government, and then the Liberals.”

Knows Government Would Be Form Language Party Watches English Language Federalist

Author:Rick Mercer

“Shakespeare's taught me that there are more words in the English language than I have got in my head.”

Language Taught English Language

Author:Zoe Wanamaker

“I feel that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. But it will have to be a new English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but altered to suit new African surroundings.”

Feels Stills Home Able Language Weight Suits Communion Surroundings English Language Altered

Author:Chinua Achebe

“In 1776, at the point of severance, except for an infusion of words from east coast Indian languages, the English language of North America was not in any radical way dissimilar from that of what the American settlers called the mother country.”

Way Country America Mother Language East Radical Indian Coast English Language North America East Coast Settlers Infusion Mother Country

Author:Robert Burchfield

“At all periods of the [English] language it is difficult to assign a beginning date to most new words and meanings. They tend to slip into the language silently, and are placed in date order only when scholars subsequently get to work.”

Order Language Difficult Periods Slips Scholar English Language New Words

Author:Robert Burchfield

“I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry.”

Language Wish British English Language American Poetry

Author:Diane Wakoski

“Two of the saddest words in the English language are, 'What party?' And LA is the 'What party?' capital of the world.”

World Two Language Party English Language Saddest

Author:Carrie Fisher

“No' is the second shortest word in the English language, but one of the hardest to say.”

Language Hardest English Language

Author:Raymond Arroyo

“Suddenly I was the man who got the part that every actor in the English language was trying to get. I was really scared. I had talked the talk, and now I had to walk the walk. For three days, I couldn't answer the phone.”

Men Trying Three Actors Language Answers Walks He Man Phones Scared English Language

Author:F. Murray Abraham

“The First Amendment...begins with the five loveliest words in the English language: 'Congress shall make no law'.”

Firsts Law Language Five Constitution Congress Amendments English Language First Amendment

Author:George Will

“I think one of the best words in the English language is compassion. I think it holds everything. It holds love, it holds care... and if everybody just did something. We all make a difference.”

Ifs Thinking Care Language Differences Compassion Making A Difference English Language

Author:Michael Crawford

“I revise constantly, as I go along and then again after I've finished a first draft. Few of my novels contain a single sentence that closely resembles the sentence I first set down. I just find that I have to keep zapping and zapping the English language until it starts to behave in some way that vaguely matches my intentions.”

Way Firsts Language Novel Intention Sentences Finished Behave English Language Single Sentence

Author:Michael Cunningham

“What we know is that Shakespeare wrote perhaps the most remarkable body of passionate love poetry in the English language to a young man.”

Knows Men Body Young Language Passionate Young Man Remarkable English Language Love Poetry Passionate Love

Author:Stephen Greenblatt

“We all live in a small unique world, that's why we need at least one sole common language.”

World Needs Language Common Unique Sole English Language Common Language

Author:William C. Brown

“Every Englishman is an average Englishman: it is a national characteristic.”

Language Average Characteristics English Language Englishmen

Book:The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)

Source: The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)

“The English gentleman is a combination of silence, courtesy, dignity, sport, newspapers and honesty.”

Language Sports Silence Honesty Dignity Newspapers Combination Gentleman Courtesy English Language English Gentleman

Author:Karel Capek

“An Englishman is content to say nothing when he has nothing to say.”

Language English Language Englishmen

Author:Samuel Johnson

“When two Eglishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather.”

Firsts Two Language Weather English Language Englishmen Windy

Author:Samuel Johnson

“A foreign observer is struck by our gentleness: by the orderly behaviour of the English crowds, the lack of pushing and quarrelling, the willingness to form queues.”

Form Language Crowds Pushing Willingness Behaviour Observers Gentleness English Language Orderly Queues

Author:George Mikes

“The gentleman is generous and treats all men as his equals, especially those whom he feels to be inferior in rank and wealth.”

Men Feels Language Wealth Treats Generous Gentleman Inferiors English Language

Author:Hilaire Belloc

“Most Englishmen are convinced that God is an Englishman, probably educated at Eton.”

Language Convinced Educated English Language Englishmen Eton

Author:E. M. Delafield

“The English take everything with an exquisite sense of humour. They are only offended if you tell them that they have no sense of humour.”

Ifs Language Humour Offended English Language Exquisite

Author:George Mikes

“In English every word can be verbed.”

Language English Language Programming Languages

Author:Alan Perlis