WORDS QUOTES VII

quotations about words

Words come reluctantly to me, they clatter in my mouth and tumble out heavily like stones.

J. M. COETZEE

In the Heart of the Country

Tags: J. M. Coetzee


Words are mere sound and smoke, dimming the heavenly light.

GOETHE

Faust

Tags: Goethe


There are some things for which three words are three too many, and three thousand words that many words too less.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

Absalom, Absalom!

Tags: William Faulkner


If you can express yourself so as to be perfectly understood in ten words, never use a dozen.

HORACE MANN

Thoughts

Tags: Horace Mann


You can attach connotations or anything you want to a word, but, at the end of the day, it still means the same thing.

RUTH MWANGOMO

"Words' gray area: Reappropriation", The Shorthorn, March 29, 2017


Not content with the million or so words they already have at their disposal, English speakers are adding new ones at the rate of around 1,000 a year. Recent dictionary debutants include blog, grok, crowdfunding, hackathon, airball, e-marketing, sudoku, twerk and Brexit.

ANDY BODLE

"How new words are born", The Guardian, February 4, 2016


Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.

LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN

Philosophical Investigations

Tags: Ludwig Wittgenstein


Words were too clumsy, sometimes; treacherous, too, always trying to twist around and mean something slightly different.

K. J. PARKER

Evil for Evil


Words ... are little houses, each with its cellar and garret.

GASTON BACHELARD

The Poetics of Space

Tags: Gaston Bachelard


I love and reverence the Word, the bearer of the spirit, the tool and gleaming ploughshare of progress.

THOMAS MANN

The Magic Mountain


I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.

GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

November

Tags: Gustave Flaubert


Words, like cannon balls, should go direct to their mark.

CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE

Intuitions and Summaries of Thought

Tags: Christian Nestell Bovee


Always having to have the last word is a bad trait. Pisses people off.

LAURELL K. HAMILTON

The Lunatic Cafe

Tags: Laurell K. Hamilton


Through words we come to know the other person--and to be known. This knowing is at the heart of our deepest longings for intimacy and connection with others. How relationships unfold with the most important people in our lives depends on courage and clarity in finding voice.

HARRIET LERNER

The Dance of Connection

Tags: Harriet Lerner


The poet cannot invent new words every time, of course. He uses the words of the tribe. But the handling of the word, the accent, a new articulation, renew them.

EUGENE IONESCO

Present Past / Past Present

Tags: Eugene Ionesco


What happens to a country when a leader's words are worthless, when their promises are toothless or utterly useless?

BRIAN STELTER

"CNN Drops The Hammer On Trump And Tells America That The President's Words Are Worthless", PoliticusUSA, March 26, 2017


One mild word ... will quench more heat than a bucket of water.

JOHN THORNTON

Maxims and Directions for Youth

Tags: John Thornton


Talking, talking, spinning a spell, pale skin of words that closes me in like a coffin.

JOHN GARDNER

Grendel

Tags: John Gardner


A man does not die for words. He dies for his relation to them.

ROBERT PENN WARREN

A Place To Come To

Tags: Robert Penn Warren


Words are soldiers of fortune
Hired by different ideas.

MAXWELL BODENHEIM

"Impulsive Dialogue"

Tags: Maxwell Bodenheim