Any man who does not make himself proficient in at least two languages other than his own is a fool. Such men have the quaint habit of discovering things fifty years after all the world knows about them — because they read only their own language. – Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962) #bilingual #trilingual

Heinrich Heine so loosened the corsets of the German language that today every little salesman can fondle her breasts. – Karl Kraus, translated from German by Harry Zohn

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work. – Carl Sandburg, New York Times, 1959 February 13th