50 of the most inspiring quotes about languages
/)
Learning another language is a powerful and meaningful thing — and us EF folks are not the only ones who believe it! We’ve gathered 50 of the most inspiring quotes from philosophers, writers, and iconic historical figures who have had things to say about learning a new language.
So, if you need even the smallest drop of inspiration to kick-start your journey towards multilingualism or give you a boost while you study, we’ve got you.
“Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.” – Rita May Brown
“It is astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a language that one understands imperfectly.” – Basil Gildersleeve
"Do you know what a foreign accent is? It's a sign of bravery." – Amy Chua
“When you learn a language, you don’t just learn to speak and write a new language. You also learn to be open-minded, liberal, tolerant, kind and considerate towards all mankind.” – Mouloud Benzadi
“With languages, you are at home anywhere." – Edward De Waal
“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” – Helen Hayes
“One small step towards a language is one giant leap towards inclusion.” – Abhijit Naskar
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein
“A special kind of beauty exists which is born in language, of language, and for language.” – Gaston Bachelard
“Language learning deserves special mention. It is, bar none, the best thing you can do to hone your clear thinking.” – Tim Ferris
“We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly.” – Kató Lomb
“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” – Lee Iacocca
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith
“Languages aren't just made of words. They're modes of looking at the world. They're keys to civilizations.” – R. F. Kuang
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” – Chinese Proverb
“Friendliness is a language that the doves can hear and the blind can read.” – Mark Twain
“One of the benefits of being bicultural is simply the awareness that how you live is not the only way.” – Ann Campanella
“You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.” – Geoffrey Willans
“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” – Cesar Chavez
“Everybody smiles in the same language.” – George Carlin
"The English language is so elastic that you can find another word to say the same thing.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.” – Doris Lessing
“Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.” – Roger Bacon
"Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things." – Flora Lewis
“Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“To have another language is to possess a second soul.” – Charlemagne
“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.” – Benjamin Lee Whorf
“If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language." – Frank Smith
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.” – Chinese proverb
“The more you speak more languages, the more you understand about yourself.” – Sandra Cisneros
“A foreign language is like a frail, delicate muscle. If you do not use it, it weakens” – Jhumpa Lahiri
“Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language.” – Frank Smith
“Just learning to think in another language allows you to see your own culture in a better viewpoint.” – Gates McFadden
“To learn something new, you need to try new things and not be afraid to be wrong.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Languages, just like people, are worlds within themselves. They have the incredible ability to provide us with a clearer, more profound and detailed perspective of a culture and its views on life, nature, and death.” – Orge Castellano
“A different language is a different vision of life.” – Federico Fellini
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
“It’s a bittersweet thing knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.” – Sarah Turnbull
“I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them.” – Joe Abercrombie
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." – Nelson Mandela
“I admire people who dare to take the language, English, and understand it and understand the melody.” – Maya Angelou
“The most intimate temper of a people, its deepest soul, is above all in its language.” – Jules Michelet
"Change your language and you change your thoughts." – Karl Albrecht
“Learning another language is like becoming another person.” – Haruki Murakami
“Language is power, in ways more literal than most people think. When we speak, we exercise the power of language to transform reality.” – Julia Penelope
“Language is the light of the mind.” – John Stuart Mill
“The more languages you know, the more you are human.” – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
“One who speaks only one language is one person, but one who speaks two languages is two people.” – Turkish proverb