Quotes On Art and Literature

From Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994):

…unless we understand the social context in which words were formed… we cannot begin to appreciate the richness and vitality of the words that make up our speech. (p. xi)

The American was good natured, generous, hospitable and sociable, and he reversed the whole history of language to make the term ‘stranger’ one of welcome. (p. 74)