What fetters the mind and benumbs the spirit is ever the dogged acceptance of absolutes.

Language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations.

Human beings do not wish to be modest; they want to be as expressive - that is, as immodest - as fear allows; fashion helps them solve that paradoxical problem.

Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society.

These examples of the lack of simplicity in English and French, all appearances to the contrary, could be multiplied almost without limit and apply to all national languages.

A standard international language should not only be simple, regular, and logical, but also rich and creative.

The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group.