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Vocabulary Quotes

Browse 533 quotes about Vocabulary.

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Vocabulary Quotes

“Language, the machine of the poet, is best fitted for his purpose in its rudest state. Nations, like individuals, first perceive, and then abstract. They advance from particular images to general terms. Hence the vocabulary of an enlightened society is philosophical, that of a half-civilized people is poetical.”

PeopleFirstsStatesPurposeIndividualLanguageNationsTermHalfParticularPoetMachinesPhilosophicalPerceiveAbstractEnlightenedCivilizedVocabularyEnlightened Society
Author:Thomas B. Macaulay
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“Well, let’s start with the maxim that the best writing is understated, meaning it’s not full of flourishes and semaphores and tap dancing and vocabulary dumps that get in the way of the story you are telling. Once you accept that, what are you left with? You are left with the story you are telling. The story you are telling is only as good as the information in it: things you elicit, or things you observe, that make a narrative come alive; things that support your point not just through assertion, but through example; quotes that don’t just convey information, but also personality.”

WayWritingWellsStoriesLeftAcceptingSupportAliveInformationExamplePersonalityDancingNarrativeVocabularyMaximsAssertionDumpUnderstatedTap Dancing
Author:Gene Weingarten
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“Compare the emotional vocabulary available to a leader (confidence, satisfaction, indignation) with the emotions not permitted (regret, embarrassment, dread, angst, mortification, anger, surprise, wonder, doubt), and it becomes apparent why perfectly normal people, upon entering public life, transform into cartoons - because they are not free to express what a normal person would feel in their situation.”

PeopleFeelsPersonsPoliticalPoliticsEmotionSituationLeaderWonderDoubtEmotionalRegretPoliticianNormalSurpriseSatisfactionAvailableCompareDreadCartoonEnteringVocabularyEmbarrassmentAngstPublic LifeIndignationMortificationPerfectly Normal
Author:John MacLachlan Gray
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“Patriotism! It is used to define so many diversities, to justify so many wrongs, to compass so many ends, that its life is killed out; it becomes a dead word in the vocabulary-a blank counter, to be moved to any part of the game; and that flag which, streaming from the mast-head of our ship of state, striped with martyr-blood, and glistening with the stars of lofty promise, should always indicate our worldwide mission, and the glorious destinies that we carry forward, is bandied about in every selfish skirmish, and held up as the symbol of every political privateer.”

ShouldEndsStatesPoliticalLife IsUsedGamesStarsDestinyBloodPromiseDiversityMovedMissionsSelfishShipsSymbolsGloriousPatriotismJustifyFlagsBlankVocabularyCompassMartyrLoftyStreamingMasts
Author:Edwin Hubbel Chapin
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“The soldier is on friendlier terms than other men with his stomach and intestines. Three-quarters of his vocabulary is derived from these regions, and they give an intimate flavour to expressions of his greatest joy as well as of his deepest indignation. It is impossible to express oneself in any other way so clearly and pithily. Our families and our teachers will be shocked when we go home, but here it is the universal language.”

MenWayGivingWellsHomeJoyThreeLanguageTermTeacherImpossibleExpressionUniversalSoldierOneselfOur FamilyIntimateRegionsStomachQuartersShockedVocabularyIndignationUniversal LanguageFlavourIntestines
Book:All quiet on the western front and related readings
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“Consonance, says the dictionary, is the combination of several tones into a harmonic unit. Dissonance results from the deranging of this harmony by the addition of tones foreign to it. One must admit that all this is not clear. Ever since it appeared in our vocabulary, the word 'dissonance' has carried with it a certain odor of sinfulness. Let us light our lantern: in textbook language, dissonance is an element of transition, a complex or interval of tones that is not complete in itself and that must be resolved to the ear's satisfaction into a perfect consonance.”

LightCertainLanguagePerfectResultsClearElementsEarsHarmonyComplexesSatisfactionCombinationToneTransitionUnitsVocabularyDictionaryTextbooksIntervalsOdorLanternsDissonanceSinfulnessConsonance
Book:Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons
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“There is a continuum of values between the churches and the general community. What distinguishes the handling of these values in the churches is mainly the heavier dosage of religious vocabulary involved”

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Book:The noise of solemn assemblies: Christian commitment and the religious establishment in America
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“The first is that good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals (vocabulary, grammar, the elements of style) and then filling the third level of your toolbox with the right instruments. The second is that while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one”

WritingFirstsHardHelpingLevelsImpossibleStyleHard WorkElementsThirdsFundamentalsInstrumentsDedicationVocabularyFillingGrammarCompetentGood WritingGood WritersGreat WritersTimelyToolboxWork DedicationHard Work Dedication
Author:Stephen King
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“Linguistics is a good way of defining the culture of a brand. The vocabulary used by sports and lifestyle brands - running, fitness, training, motorsports - is all about functionality, whereas the vocabulary of the luxury business - handbags, ready-to-wear - is all about the product.”

WayRunningUsedCultureSportsReadyProductsTrainingLifestyleLuxuryBrandsVocabularyDefiningGood WayLinguisticsHandbagsFunctionalityMotorsportsFitness Training
Author:Francois-Henri Pinault
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“More people should visit Antarctica, metaphorically speaking, on their own. That is one of the conclusions I have reached, one of my recommendations: explore something, even if it's just a bookshelf. Make a stab in the dark. Read off the beaten path. Your attention is precious. Be careful of other people trying to direct how you dispense it. Confront your own values. Decide what it is you are looking for an then look for it. Perform connoisseurship. We all need to create our own vocabulary of appreciation, or we are trapped by the vocabulary of others.”

PeopleIfsNeedsShouldTryingLooksValuesDarkAttentionPathDirectCarefulAppreciationConclusionBe CarefulTrappedBeatenVocabularyRecommendationsBookshelvesAntarcticaBeaten PathOff The Beaten Path
Book:The Shelf: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading
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“To anyone who has followed the practice of using profanity or vulgarity and would like to correct the habit, could I offer this suggestion? First, make the commitment to erase such words from your vocabulary. Next, if you slip and say a swear word or a substitute word, mentally reconstruct the sentence without the vulgarity or substitute word and repeat the new sentence aloud. Eventually you will develop a non-vulgar speech habit.”

IfsFirstsNextPracticeHabitOffersSpeechCommitmentSentencesRepeatsSubstitutesMissionarySlipsSwearSuggestionsVocabularyVulgarEraseVulgarityProfanitySwear Word
Author:L. Tom Perry
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