Language Quotes

"Let the music speak to us of to-night, in a happier language than ours." ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. ~ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Words spoken cannot be recalled. ~ He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope "Words," said the host, at length, "is worse'n bullets. You never know what they'll hit." ~ The Night Horseman by Max Brand "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less." ~ Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll Fair speech may hide a foul heart. ~ The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien The urgency of the moment always missed its mark. Words fluttered sideways and struck the object inches too low. Then one gave it up; then the idea sunk back again; then one became like most middle-aged people, cautious, furtive, with wrinkles between the eyes and a look of perpetual apprehension. ~ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf We are never half so interesting when we have learned that language is given us to enable us to conceal our thoughts. ~ Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery Mrs. Bittacy rustled ominously, holding her peace meanwhile. She feared long words she did not understand. Beelzebub lay hid among too many syllables. ~ The Man Whom the Trees Loved by Algernon Blackwood "A spoken word, Sir Abraham, is often of more value than volumes of written advice." ~ The Warden by Anthony Trollope