Source: Strong Opinions (1973), p. 45
Context: To be quite candid — and what I am going to say now is something I have never said before, and I hope that it provokes a salutary chill — I know more than I can express in words, and the little I can express would not have been expressed, had I not known more.
“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.”
Sometimes quoted in grammatically corrected form as "They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed..." but the apparent editing error here is retained in the published versions of this translation.
Siddhartha (1922)
Context: Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another.
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Hermann Hesse 168
German writer 1877–1962Related quotes
“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.”
“You are the universe. expressing itself as a human for a little while.”
“I always thought there was very little wit wanted to make a fortune in the City.”
Source: The Prime Minister (1876), Ch. 10
Re: S-exp vs XML, HTML, LaTeX (was: Why lisp is growing) http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/9a30c508201627ee (Usenet article).
Usenet articles, Miscellaneous
Broadcasting Speech (August 8, 2007)