When a politician uses the word ‚folks,‘ we should brace ourselves for the deceit, or worse, that is coming.

This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.

Music helps me tell my story. That’s where I can really be heard. But there’s so much focus on the things that aren’t music.

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

‚Good English‘ is whatever educated people talk; so that what is good in one place or time would not be so in another.

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that oral teachers and sign teachers found it difficult to sit down in the same room without quarreling, and there was intolerance upon both sides. To say ‚oral method‘ to a sign teacher was like waving a red flag in the face of a bull, and to say ‚sign language‘ to an oralist aroused the deepest resentment.

The best way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit down and talk.

I’m not really good at fun-to-know, human interest stuff. We’re not ‚celebrities‘, whose life itself is a performance. Good or bad or ugly, we are our words. They’re what people meet.

Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers. In the perfect stranger we perceive man himself; the image of a God is not disguised by resemblances to an uncle or doubts of wisdom of a mustache.

Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.

I don’t have faith in young people any more. I don’t waste time trying to communicate with them.

How to drive a guy crazy: send him a telegram and on the top put ‚page 2.‘

I am not one who – who flamboyantly believes in throwing a lot of words around.

He that hath knowledge spareth his words.

The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post.

I try to speak in everyday language. I feel like God has gifted me to take Bible principles and make them practical.

Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.

I just think you ought to talk straight with your people.

When I was young, an eccentric uncle decided to teach me how to lie. Not, he explained, because he wanted me to lie, but because he thought I should know how it’s done so I would recognise when I was being lied to.

Words, words, words! They shut one off from the universe. Three quarters of the time one’s never in contact with things, only with the beastly words that stand for them.

Language is wine upon the lips.

I don’t do Shakespeare. I don’t talk in that kind of broken English.

Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication.

I think we basically saw that the messaging space is bigger than we’d initially realized, and that the use cases that WhatsApp and Messenger have are more different than we had thought originally.

If a child from an Amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe comes to Boston, is raised in Boston, that child will be indistinguishable in language capacities from my children growing up here, and vice versa.

Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

Obscenity comes from grime.

The mark of a true politician is that he is never at a loss for words because he is always half-expecting to be asked to make a speech.

When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the ground, in South Africa you are blamed when that happens.

When I tell a child something the first time, I’m nice. The 15th time, I start to get aggravated.

It’s considered acceptable in our culture to approach perfect strangers, as often or not who may be in extremis, and evangelise. I don’t see why that’s considered a normal thing.

It’s funny because I’ve made a living off of words, but words get in the way of what you really want to say.

As long as somebody finances you, can make a film and get it seen any place and in any language; then, hopefully, it’s a success.

Don’t ever call a guy first. The thing they want the most is whatever they can’t have. It sounds really juvenile, but it works.

Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

Words are more powerful than some noises. Noises won’t last long. Lyrics are so important, and people don’t realise that.

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.

The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.

What convinces is conviction. Believe in the argument you’re advancing. If you don’t you’re as good as dead. The other person will sense that something isn’t there, and no chain of reasoning, no matter how logical or elegant or brilliant, will win your case for you.

Speak low, if you speak love.

When I’m nervous, I stutter, and I had to keep stopping and starting.

I speak a number of languages, but none are more beautiful to me than English.

I have warned many times about the guaranteed dangers of betting with your heart instead of your head – big darkness, soon come – but every once in a while you get a fair chance to have it both ways, and the annual NCAA basketball Tournament is one of them.

One has to secrete a jelly in which to slip quotations down people’s throats – and one always secretes too much jelly.

Language is a weapon of politicians, but language is a weapon in much of human affairs.

Every spoken word arouses our self-will.

Normally, when someone we love is turning away from a struggle, we self-protect by also turning away. That’s definitely my first response. I think change is more likely to happen if both partners have common language and a shared lens to see problems.

A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man.

I write all of my own speeches.

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this person into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory.

Whoever the coach is, my job is to talk to him, understand him and be a better player under him and give my best.

Silence is argument carried out by other means.

If you ever see The Rock working out in the gym, don’t think you can just go up and disturb his workout and expect him to take a picture. He’s there to work, so kindly just pass the silverback on by or he’ll rip your face off.

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

Stage actors are usually much more conscious of speaking up and making sure that everyone can hear in the back of the theatre; a film actor probably thinks of that a little less.

The secret to the movie business, or any business, is to get a good education in a subject besides film – whether it’s history, psychology, economics, or architecture – so you have something to make a movie about. All the skill in the world isn’t going to help you unless you have something to say.

I’m terrified of losing my voice.

I would impress upon your minds the fact that if you want to do a man justice, you should believe what a man says himself rather than what people say he says.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

Pressed into service means pressed out of shape.