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

I am convinced that the stratigraphic method will in the future enable archaeology to throw far more light on the history of American culture than it has done in the past.

As a matter of fact, a national language which spreads beyond its own confines very quickly loses much of its original richness of content and is in no better case than a constructed language.

The attitude of independence toward a constructed language which all national speakers must adopt is really a great advantage, because it tends to make man see himself as the master of language instead of its obedient servant.

We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.

National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry.

Were a language ever completely "grammatical" it would be a perfect engine of conceptual expression. Unfortunately, or luckily, no language is tyrannically consistent. All grammars leak.