Il y a dans le mot, dans le verbe, quelque chose de sacré qui nous défend d'en faire un jeu de hasard. Manier savamment une langue, c'est pratiquer une espèce de sorcellerie évocatoire.
XIV: "Théophile Gautier" http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9ophile_Gautier_%28L%E2%80%99Art_romantique%29, as translated in The Idea of Poetry in France : From Houdar de La Motte to Baudelaire (1958) by Margaret Gilman, p. 263
Variant translations:
There exists in the word, in the verb, something sacred which prohibits us from viewing it as a mere game of chance. To manipulate language with wisdom is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.
As quoted in Poetry of Grammar and Grammar of Poetry (1981) by Walter de Gruyter
There is in a word, in a verb, something sacred which forbids us from using it recklessly. To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.
There is in a word, in a verb, something sacred which forbids us from using it recklessly. To handle a language cunningly is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.
L'art romantique (1869)
Il y a dans le mot, dans le verbe, quelque chose de sacré qui nous défend d'en faire un jeu de hasard. Manier savamment une langue, c'est pratiquer une espèce de sorcellerie évocatoire.
L'art romantique (1869)
“To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.”
The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (1980)
Source: Language, thought and reality (1956), p. 61.
John F. Sowa, "Building, Sharing and Merging Ontologies" http://www.jfsowa.com/ontology/ontoshar.htm on jfsowa.com. Last Modified: 01/18/2009.
“Practice spoke its positive language to Theory whose word is always in the Future.”
Illusions perdues, part III. Ève et David (Ève and David), later Les Souffrances de l'inventeur (The Inventor's Sufferings).
Original: (fr) La Pratique parlait son langage positif à la Théorie dont la parole est toujours au Futur.
Habermas (2003) The Future of Human Nature. p. 10
On how his correlates the language of a poet with practicing law in “The Writer’s Block Transcripts: A Q&A with Martin Espada” https://www.sampsoniaway.org/interviews/2015/12/11/the-writers-block-transcripts-a-qa-with-martin-espada/ in Sampsonia Way (2015 Dec 11)
“A special kind of beauty exists which is born in language, of language, and for language.”
A Retrospective Glance at the Lifework of a Master of Books
Fragments of a Poetics of Fire (1988)
Source: Jargon der Eigentlichkeit [Jargon of Authenticity] (1964), p. 7
