English Language Quotes - Page 3

• English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin, a language with which it has precious little in common.

  Bill Bryson

  Latin, Simple, English Grammar

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• Language is the source of misunderstandings.

  Antoine de Saint-Exupery

  Travel, Belief, Language

  "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, (Ch. XXI), 1943.

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• Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.

  Bill Bryson

  Baseball, Football, Latin

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• I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.

  Samuel Johnson

  Sorry, Communication, Tongue

  In James Boswell 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides' (1785) 18 September 1773

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• Words, too, have genuine substance -- mass and weight and specific gravity.

  Tim O'Brien

  Substance, Weight, Gravity

  Tim O'Brien (2011). “Tomcat in Love”, p.46, Broadway Books

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• The way I see it is, I am a boon to the English language.

  George W. Bush

  Way, Language, Boon

  "Talking Points: Bush Scores Big With the Press". www.foxnews.com. March 30, 2001.

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• Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the language of the devil; for which reason I have long since as good as renounced it.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Sarcastic, Sarcasm, Long

  Thomas Carlyle (1834). “Fraser's Magazine”, p.195

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• The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well if it had been called The Old Sailor.

  Samuel Butler

  Taken, Sailor, Ancient

  Samuel Butler (2008). “The Note-books of Samuel Butler: Easyread Comfort Edition”, p.49, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• For I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me.

  A. A. Milne

  Writing, Editing, Long

  Winnie-the-Pooh ch. 4 (1926)

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• Verbing weirds language.

  Bill Watterson

  Language, Comic

  "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat". Book by Bill Watterson, October 1994.

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• When all is said and done, more is said than done.

  Lou Holtz

  Motivational, Football, College

  Twitter post from Aug 22, 2011

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• The most meaningless term in the English language is "I take full responsibility." When a politician utters those words it means absolutely nothing.

  Bernard Goldberg

  Mean, Responsibility, Language

  "Goldberg: The media is slobbering over Hillary Clinton". "The O'Reilly Factor" with Bill O'Reilly, www.foxnews.com. January 25, 2013.

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• The English language was carefully, carefully cobbled together by three blind dudes and a German dictionary

  Dave Kellett

  Together, Three, Brilliant

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• The English language is nobody's special property.

  Derek Walcott

  Special, Language, Property

  "Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, Eighth Series". Book edited by George Plimpton, 1988.

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• My God! The English language is a form of communication! Conversation isn't just crossfire where you shoot and get shot at! Where you've got to duck for your life and aim to kill! Words aren't only bombs and bullets — no, they're little gifts, containing meanings!

  Philip Roth

  Communication, Ducks, Bombs

  "Portnoy's Complaint". Book by Philip Roth, 1969.

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  Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Relationship, Positive

  Mark Twain (2015). “Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend”, p.18, St. Martin's Press

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• The English language is an arsenal of weapons. If you are going to brandish them without checking to see whether or not they are loaded, you must expect to have them explode in your face from time to time.

  Stephen Fry

  Faces, Weapons, Language

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• You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.

  Geoffrey Willans

  Inspiration, Learning, German Language

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• FEAR is an acronym in the English language for 'False Evidence Appearing Real'.

  Neale Donald Walsch

  Fear, Real, Acronyms

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• The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  Ronald Reagan

  Funny, Business, Military

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• More has been screwed up on the battlefield and misunderstood in the Pentagon because of a lack of understanding of the English language than any other single factor.

  John W. Vessey, Jr.

  Understanding, Misunderstood, Language

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• 'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that 'I do' is the longest sentence?

  George Carlin

  Funny, Marriage, Sarcastic

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• The English language has a deceptive air of simplicity; so have some little frocks; but they are both not the kind of thing you can run up in half an hour with a machine.

  Dorothy L. Sayers

  Running, Writing, Hype

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• The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib.

  Robert Burchfield

  Communication, Editors, Monsters

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• In the English language there are orphans and widows, but there is no word for the parents who loses a child.

  Jodi Picoult

  Sad, Children, Parent

  Jodi Picoult (2009). “My Sister's Keeper: A Novel”, p.493, Simon and Schuster

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