"Language, that is to say, is the indispensable mechanism of human life -- of life such as ours that is molded, guided, enriched, and made possible by the accumulation of the past experience of members of our own species. Dogs and cats and chimpanzees do not, so far as we can tell, increase their wisdom, their information, or their control over their environment from one generation to the next. But human beings do. The cultural accomplishment of the ages, the invention of cooking, [...] and the discovery of all the arts and sciences come to us as free gifts from the dead. These gifts, which none of us has done anything to earn, offer us not only the opportunity for a richer life than our forebears enjoyed but also the opportunity to add to the sum total of human achievement by our own contributions, however small they may be."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesAcademics from CanadaEducators from the United StatesMembers of the United States SenateLinguists from Canada
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 13
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/S._I._Hayakawa
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
S. I. Hayakawa
Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (July 18, 1906 – February 27, 1992) was a Canadian-born American academic and political figure. He was an English professor, served as president of San Francisco State University and then a United States Senator from California from 1977 to 1983.
27 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by S. I. Hayakawa →
Related Quotes
"People who think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic, among them influential political leaders and businessme…"
"Indeed, most of the time when we are listening to the noises people make or looking at the black marks on paper that …"
"A human being, then, is never dependent on his own experience alone for his information. Even in a primitive culture …"
"To be able to read and write, therefore, is to learn to profit by and take part in the greatest of human achievements…"
"We live in a highly competitive society, each of us trying to outdo the other in wealth, in popularity or social pres…"
"But what such a philosophy overlooks is that, despite all the competition at the surface, there is a huge substratum …"
"From the moment he switches on an early-morning news broadcast until he falls asleep at night over a novel or a magaz…"
"Mr. Mets is representative not only of the general public, but also of many scientific workers, publicists, and write…"
"With words woven into almost every detail of his life, it seems amazing that Mr. Mets' thinking on the subject of lan…"
"In the case of drama (stage, movies, television ), there appear to be people in almost every audience who never quite…"