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Polyglot Quotes

Browse 105 quotes about Polyglot.

Polyglot Quotes

“I grew up speaking two languages, mother tongue and national tongue, then in my late teens I assimilated English from pirated dvds of American movies; soon after I absorbed another language, from the South of India, again from movies. Years later when I started writing and got WiFi, that's when an entire new horizon opened up. This time I found myself drawn to Turkish and Spanish, which became second languages in the canon, after my first English. I don't describe, I embody - I don't study a culture, I disappear into the culture.”

“Pilgrim of Language (Sonnet) How will you know if you can speak another language? If you can curse someone on impulse without memorizing, you got the language in your gut. If you can console someone in pain, the language nestles in your heart. No es necessario que hablar guapisimo, solamente necessario que hablar amable. All those pedestals of language levels, a, b, z, and what not, are elitist garbage. Chase after form, and you'll miss the soul - throw yourself into the soul, and neurons will regrow. Forget grammar, forget vocabulary, let the language seep into your bloodstream. In a world infested with medal-seeking mules, stand odd, stand ablaze, a drunken pilgrim.”

“Milkyway Messiah (The Sonnet) Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata, Cada vez que los oprimidos claman esperanza, Siyasi hayvanlar ne zaman gelip nefret satarsa, Whenever morons 'n their yes men ruin armonia, Jab jab some jhandus rashtrabadka jhanda lehraye, När kärleken till lyx väger tyngre än socialt ansvar, Immer wenn das herz von gier überwältigt wird, When humility is trampled by megalomaniacal desire, Sempre que a bondade é dominada pelo intelecto, Quando la compassione è sopraffatta dall'indifferenza, Kapag tinanggap ang pagiging makasarili bilang batas, Whenever accountability is deemed as misdemeanor, Embracing affliction, from the dust 'n dirt of soil 'n street, You the Milkyway Messiah is to rise as the sentient shield.”

“If you wanna know about a culture, you can read about it in any language - but if you want to experience that culture like your own, you gotta do it as one of their own - through their own native language.”

“Mundo Mi Monasterio (Imanjali, Sonnet 2344) Patriot beyond nation, religious beyond religion, cultured beyond culture - that's a complete human. Conscience is my CV, Biodata, Bulldozer, Revolution, my resume, Citizenship, Earthistana. Hindistan bana can verdi, Amerika bana şan verdi, Türkiye bana kalp verdi, ve Dünya bana amaç verdi. En sevdiğim kitap Mesnevi, en sevdiğim şair Mevlana, en sevdiğim dil Türkçe - yinede derviş, şair, hepsi sonra, öncelikle ben insan, iyilik benim iman; mundo mi monasterio, annihilation my azan.”

“Hometown Human Sonnet Everybody loves Rumi, I learnt his tongue, So I could pick up where he left off. Better than basking in borrowed light, Is to be an original light to the world. Everybody yells, viva la libertad, I learnt el idioma, so I could humanize the paradigm of revolution. Everybody loves Indus valley diversity, Annitiki munde anni shaashtralu nerchkunnanu, So I'm never out of spice for my humanitarianism. Everybody loves boasting about their culture, I spent years making all the cultures my own. Thus my strength was amplified a thousand folds, My sight expanded beyond all norms of vision known. Polyglots have more fun - there is no question. When science, poetry and polyglottery come together, That's the beginning of a paradigm bending revolution.”

“AI can translate info, not inkling, AI can translate facts, not poetry. Till a tongue transcends lips to soul, Translations are but soulless forgery. Each language leaves a distinct mental imprint, Inaccessible by the fanciest of translator. Translation gives a glimpse into the head, Language is highway to the soul of a culture.”

“The Whirling Linguist (Naskaristana 2670-2671) Language is a paradox, by ambition it is expansive, but by neurology it is restrictive, and language tied to ideology, is downright decrepit. I live in six languages, and occasionally dabble in a few more, and I learnt none inside classrooms, I just outgrew the jungle memberships. What makes a language native is not flawless syntax or grammar, but a shameless flow of passion. For example, yo soy humano, por que humano? cunku benim icin bi tek insanlik onemli - sesangi sarang, sarangi sesang - and to hell with armchair linguists and grammar nazis, who can't tell day from night without consulting textbooks - I'm the center that the dervish whirls around, I'm the flame that syllables dance around, I'm the immeasurable that your complex-obsessed psychology books patronize with analysis, and philosophy books desecrate with ivory-tower, lifeless logic disconnected from soil, most of whom are more interested in calculation and condescension than the elevation of human condition. You think Naskar writes me, Naskar is an idiot, I'm beyond Naskar, beyond every single puny mortal brain, I'm the original sentience that occasionally seeks out fitting vessels, with a dominant tendency of expansion and a tinge of naivety, and makes them whirl at my whim, so that your little toddler species doesn't crawl back into jungle slime.”

“I am Multiculturalism (The Sonnet) I don't write on multiculturalism, I am multiculturalism. The only nationalism I care about, is tribalism ending multinationalism. I can't do it no more - I can't! One little language is enough no more! I gotta be the Himalayas in every language, I gotta be the Himalayas in every culture. Either you'll know me as a national hero of every nation, or you won't know me at all. So long as a single human calls me foreigner, I'll conclude, I've achieved nothing at all.”

“I don't need to write in all these languages of the world - those who care, will find a way. I write in more than one language because I want to. I want to leave at least something extremely personal for every culture in the world - that is, for as many cultures as I humanly can.”

“The Good Conqueror (Sonnet) Born in the land of multiculturalism, I grew up speaking three languages, mother tongue, national tongue and English. Then in my late teens I acquired my fourth tongue Telugu on a whim, and later along the years, I acquired my fifth, Turkish, which became my dearest, and my sixth, yet to be perfected, Spanish. That's the only conquest I care about, for language is the highway to culture. Not real estate, gadgets or cash, give me languages, give me cultures. English is my work language, Turkish is my love language. Science is my brain language, Integration, my heart language.”

“Born in the land of multiculturalism, I grew up speaking three languages, mother tongue, national tongue and English. Then in my late teens I acquired my fourth tongue Telugu on a whim, and later along the years, I acquired my fifth, Turkish, which became my dearest, and my sixth, yet to be perfected, Spanish. That's the only conquest I care about, for language is the highway to culture. Not real estate, gadgets or cash, give me languages, give me cultures.”

“Sonnet Shahada, 2345 I switch cultures like clothes, I switch sciences like pens. I switch scriptures like tides, I switch languages like seasons. Service of humanity is supreme shahada, to defend the persecuted is cosmic khalsa, to treat neighbor as god is real dharma, quiet kindness is the real karma. Ana al-haqq, ana al-hub - aham bindu, aham brahmanda. I shed dogma like dead skin, el cosmos es mi casa.”

“When I wanna pen something extremely personal, without actually revealing anything, I just write it in spanish or turkish. If you wanna study the mountain, study the mainstream work - but if you wanna learn about the person, study the turkish and spanish portion of my work. That's why most of the titles of my works are in turkish or spanish - because I can't write a single word unless I feel the title boiling in my blood - and although English is unofficially the first language of earth, because of its savage imperialist history, it is neither the profoundest nor the most beautiful language on earth. Does that mean, we should wipe out english from the world altogether? Of course not - that would be yet another boneheaded exercise in bigotry and intolerance. Instead, what's really needed is a genuine humane intention to create a truly magnificent multilingual society - towards a multicultural world. Learn to look beyond the puny confines of one petty language, because the world is too grand to be wasted in the gutter of one language and one culture. Every culture is my culture, every country is mine - defiant descendants of divided ancestors, hand in hand we shall fly.”

“My favorite language in the world is Turkish, Because its culture electrifies my scars. My favorite language in the East is Telugu, Because its music emboldens my nerves. My favorite language in the West is Spanish, Because it teaches me the worth of freedom. Favorite ancient tongues are Arabic 'n Sanskrit, For one embodies peace, another assimilation.”