Multilingualism Quotes

“...Orm always afterwards used to say that, after good luck, strength, and skill at arms, nothing was so useful to a man who found himself among foreigners as the ability to learn a language.”
― Frans G. Bengtsson, The Long Ships

“Languages are but echoes of each other, Based on the environment each feels unique. No language is superior, no language is inferior, All are born of human mind to meet at heart's peak.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“I don't do drugs, languages are my LSD.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Abigitano: El Divino Refugiado

“When I wanna pen something extremely personal, without actually revealing anything, I just write it in spanish or turkish. If you wanna study the mountain, study the mainstream work - but if you wanna learn about the person, study the turkish and spanish portion of my work.

That's why most of the titles of my works are in turkish or spanish - because I can't write a single word unless I feel the title boiling in my blood - and although English is unofficially the first language of earth, because of its savage imperialist history, it is neither the profoundest nor the most beautiful language on earth.

Does that mean, we should wipe out english from the world altogether? Of course not - that would be yet another boneheaded exercise in bigotry and intolerance. Instead, what's really needed is a genuine humane intention to create a truly magnificent
multilingual society - towards a multicultural world. Learn to look beyond the puny confines of one petty language, because the world is too grand to be wasted in the gutter of one language and one culture. Every culture is my culture, every country is mine - defiant descendants of divided ancestors, hand in hand we shall fly.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Spangskritlish
(Sonnet for Tomorrow's Citizen)

जाग्रत, उत्तिष्ठ, जगत् स्कन्धे गृहाण,
आत्मानं विस्मरतु, संसारस्य अश्रुमार्जयतु।
द्वेषं हिंसां च सर्वं परित्यज्य,
जाग्रत, उत्तिष्ठ, सुमनुष्य भवतु।

Eres Dios, eres diablo -
Lo que decidas, ¡así será!
Human destiny is human decision,
Somos la iluminación en toda oscuridad.

We are the illumination,
We are the answer to our prayer.
Karanlık bile korkacak bizden,
When we rise as each other's keeper.

Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor.
While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Eres Dios, eres diablo -
Lo que decidas, ¡así será!
Human destiny is human decision,
Somos la iluminación en toda oscuridad.

We are the illumination,
We are the answer to our prayer.
Karanlık bile korkacak bizden,
When we rise as each other's keeper.

Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor.
While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Time is love, love is time -
Tiempo es amor, amor es tiempo.
Her saat sevda saatidir,
Humano es amor, amor humano.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“I have but one law - I don't exist. I don't have a homeland, I don't have a native tongue, I don't have an origin culture - for you are my home, your tongue is my tongue, your culture is my culture.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Right or Human: 300 Limericks of Inclusion

“Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor. While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“The biggest requirement of learning is to know your limits of the moment. Let me elaborate with an example. Alongside my mainstream works, I have wanted to create complete works in turkish and spanish for several years. And few years back, with my rather limited experiential understanding of both languages, I even took it upon myself to do so, but I got stuck on the very first page. Why? Because it is one thing to pen occasional gems in another language, and totally different to release an entire work in that language. I was ready at heart, but not at brain. So, instead of writing whole works in these languages, I simply made turkish and spanish a joyful addition to my mainstream work - however the original linguistic and cultural intention kept reflecting in the titles of works, such as Aşkanjali, The Gentalist, Gente Mente Adelante, Mucize Insan and so on. It was not until late 2023 that my brain finally caught up with my heart, and delivered the first complete original turkish and spanish Naskarean works to the world.

Know your strongholds, they'll take you far. Know your shortfalls, they'll take you farther. Strongholds help you enhance your predominant capacities, whereas shortfalls help you unfold new possibilities - they help you unfold new vistas of human endeavor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Language is magic,
I wield that magic in my breath.
My brain is a symphony of portals,
each transcending past exclusivity,
into distinct linguocultural awareness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Language is magic, culture is magic,
I wield that magic in my breath.
My brain is a symphony of portals,
Each transcending past exclusivity,
into distinct linguocultural awareness.”
― Abhijit Naskar

“Broken polyglots are potent polyglots.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Plenticultural (Sonnet 1434)

When I get mad, I revert to English,
because English is my first language.
When I feel romantic, I revert to Turkish,
because Turkish is my love language.

When I feel passionate, I revert to Spanish,
because Spanish is my passion language.
When I feel electric, I revert to Telugu,
because Telugu is my power language.

When nothing works, I revert to Korean,
because Korean is my backup language.
And you wonder why I never run empty,
why the natural spring is ever abundant!

Language is the gateway to culture,
Culture is the gateway to life.
I am no person who speaks many tongues,
I am the proof of plenticultural life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Language is the gateway to culture,
Culture is the gateway to life.
I am no person who speaks many tongues,
I am the proof of plenticultural life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Language is the gateway to culture, culture is the gateway to life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“The Good Conqueror (Sonnet)

Born in the land of multiculturalism,
I grew up speaking three languages,
mother tongue, national tongue and English.

Then in my late teens I acquired
my fourth tongue Telugu on a whim,
and later along the years,
I acquired my fifth, Turkish, which
became my dearest, and my sixth,
yet to be perfected, Spanish.

That's the only conquest I care about,
for language is the highway to culture.
Not real estate, gadgets or cash,
give me languages, give me cultures.

English is my work language,
Turkish is my love language.
Science is my brain language,
Integration, my heart language.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“Born in the land of multiculturalism, I grew up speaking three languages, mother tongue, national tongue and English. Then in my late teens I acquired my fourth tongue Telugu on a whim, and later along the years, I acquired my fifth, Turkish, which became my dearest, and my sixth, yet to be perfected, Spanish. That's the only conquest I care about, for language is the highway to culture. Not real estate, gadgets or cash, give me languages, give me cultures.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“English is my work language,
Turkish is my love language.
Science is my brain language,
Integration, my heart language.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“I have no mother-language, every mother is my mother, every language, my language.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“My brain is multilingual,
my heart is multicultural,
my life is multidimensional,
I exist for I dissolve in all.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“One broken second language is far more valuable than all the mass-produced subtitles.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Speaking more than one language delays age-related cognitive decline.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Language is Highway to A Culture
(Diary of A Polyglot Neuroscientist, S.2392)

Languages are not ornaments,
languages are organs,
channeling spirit from the heart.

Language is highway to a culture,
language requires a vessel, not translator.
Soon earbuds will feature instant translation,
which will render crosscultural conversation seamless,
but at the same time, lifeless, hollow and cold.

Until we develop the brain technology
to communicate meaning telepathically
without talking, no amount of translation
can carry the warmth, nuances and
sentiment of a lived language.

As added perk, speaking more than one language
delays age-related cognitive decline.
Therefore no matter how you look at it,
one broken second language is far more
valuable than all the mass-produced subtitles.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“Until we develop the brain technology to communicate meaning telepathically without talking, no amount of translation can carry the warmth, nuances and sentiment of a lived language.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“I grew up speaking two languages,
mother tongue and national tongue,
then in my late teens I assimilated English
from pirated dvds of American movies;

soon after I absorbed another language,
from the South of India, again from movies.
Years later when I started writing and got WiFi,
that's when an entire new horizon opened up.

This time I found myself drawn to Turkish
and Spanish, which became second languages
in the canon, after my first English.

I don't describe, I embody -
I don't study a culture,
I disappear into the culture.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“How will you know if you can speak another language? If you can curse someone on impulse without memorizing, you got the language in your gut. If you can console someone in pain, the language nestles in your heart.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot

“Chase after form, and you'll miss the soul - throw yourself into the soul, and neurons will regrow.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot

“Forget grammar, forget vocabulary, let the language seep into your bloodstream. In a world infested with medal-seeking mules, stand odd, stand ablaze, a drunken pilgrim.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot

“Pilgrim of Language (Sonnet)

How will you know if you
can speak another language?

If you can curse someone
on impulse without memorizing,
you got the language in your gut.
If you can console someone in pain,
the language nestles in your heart.

No es necessario que hablar guapisimo,
solamente necessario que hablar amable.
All those pedestals of language levels,
a, b, z, and what not, are elitist garbage.

Chase after form,
and you'll miss the soul -
throw yourself into the soul,
and neurons will regrow.

Forget grammar, forget vocabulary,
let the language seep into your bloodstream.
In a world infested with medal-seeking mules,
stand odd, stand ablaze, a drunken pilgrim.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hazrat-e Humanity: The Uncultured Polyglot