#languages

Which natural gift would you most like to possess? The ability to master other languages (which would have hugely enhanced the scope of these answers). How would you like to die? Fully conscious, and either fighting or reciting (or fooling around). What do you most dislike about your appearance? The way in which it makes former admirers search for neutral words. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#death #languages #polyglots #questionnaires #talents

Like all young reporters - brilliant or hopelessly incompetent - I dreamed of the glamorous life of the foreign correspondent: prowling Vienna in a Burberry trench coat, speaking a dozen languages to dangerous women, narrowly escaping Sardinian bandits - the usual stuff that newspaper dreams are made of. ↗

— Russell Baker

#brilliant #coat #correspondent #dangerous #dozen

I woke up find a rather noisy multi-lingual meeting going on. This was great as everyone could participate and even though everything had to be translated into about four different languages it never became boring. After a while the meeting broke up and everyone went for food. ↗

— John Blair

#after #became #boring #broke #could

Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not. ↗

— G. H. Hardy

#because #die #forgotten #ideas #languages

Now, it's my belief that Python is a lot easier than to teach to students programming and teach them C or C++ or Java at the same time because all the details of the languages are so much harder. Other scripting languages really don't work very well there either. ↗

— Guido van Rossum

#belief #details #easier #either #harder

As the president of Kosovo, I am more concerned about the current situation with the employment standing at around 70 % of the population, which is young, with great potential, speaking many foreign languages and having wide expertise. ↗

— Ibrahim Rugova

#am #around #concerned #current #current situation

National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry. ↗

— Edward Sapir

#huge #inquiry #interests #languages #national

No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. ↗

— Edward Sapir

#ever #languages #reality #representing #same

These examples of the lack of simplicity in English and French, all appearances to the contrary, could be multiplied almost without limit and apply to all national languages. ↗

— Edward Sapir

#appearances #apply #contrary #could #english

I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important. ↗

— Jon Secada

#grew #i #important #languages #me