Language Conservation Quotes

A poem is a form of refrigeration that stops language going bad.

To what better purpose can a man's energy be devoted, and his talents, than the resuscitation of his country's language?

I do not share the wish to see my language dead and decently buried.

She is convinced that when language dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference and absence of esteem, or killed by fiat, not only she herself, but all users and makers are accountable for its demise. In her country children have bitten their tongues off and use bullets instead to iterate the voice of speechlessness, of disabled and disabling language, of language adults have abandoned altogether as a device for grappling with meaning, providing guidance, or expressing love.

The purists are small in number but, you know hardy of voice.

Our language, one of our most precious natural resources, deserves at least as much protection as our woodlands, streams and whooping cranes.

It is time for dead languages to be quiet.

He cared for languages dead long enough that they wouldn’t change on him.

Hebrew was frozen, like frozen peas, fresh out of the Bible.

Language is decanted and shared. If only one person is left alive speaking a language - the case with some American Indian languages - the language is dead. Language takes two and their multiples.

There's no such thing as dead languages, only dormant minds.

There's a tremendous amount of language loss. Most of the attention is given to indigenous languages, which makes sense, but some of the most dramatic language loss is in Europe.

I think we would all like to believe that every new event demands a new word. But we're environmentally conscious with our words. We recycle words we've got.