It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.
E. B. WhiteRead
The living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change. A cow is under no obligation to stay
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language is shaped by its users and evolves with their needs and choices.
E. B. White's quote illustrates the dynamic nature of language, emphasizing that it is not a fixed entity but rather a living and breathing construct born from the collective use by its speakers. Just as cows create and alter paths based on their desires, so too do people shape language with their daily interactions, leading to continuous change and adaptation over time.
Themes
LanguageEvolutionCommunicationChangeCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of adapting to modern communication trends.
More from E. B. White
All quotes →It isn't silence you can cut with a knife any more, it's interchange of ideas. Intelligent discussion of practically everything is what is breaking up modern marriage.
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The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. Because I have the greatest respect for the reader, and if he's going to the trouble of reading what I've written -- I'm a slow reader myself and I guess most people are -- why, the least I can do is make it as easy as possible for him to find out what I'm trying to say, trying to get at. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.
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A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
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A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
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All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
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