Polyglots Quotes

“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, Hitch 22: A Memoir

“If the goal you've set for yourself has a 100 percent chance of success, then frankly you aren't aiming high enough.”
― Benny Lewis, Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World

“Pop is about speaking everybody's language. The imagery and iconography we instantly recognize. When you can rely on things that the public already knows, you're dealing with Pop.”
― Nuno Roque

“One small step towards a language is one giant leap towards inclusion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Why are there more male hyperpolyglots? One answer is that speaking a lot of languages is a geek macho thing (...) It seemed that a woman is less likely to say she "speaks" or "knows" a language if she studied it at some point in the past, while a man, wanting to display his giant repertoire, would include it.”
― Michael Erard, Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners

“One difference is that individuals living in multilingual communities seem to settle on an optimal cognitive load. The hyperpolyglot possesses a similar patchwork of linguistic proficiencies. Yet he or she exceeds this optimum with a conspicuous consumption of brain power (...) For multilinguals, learning languages is an act of joining society. There's no motive, no separable 'will to plasticity' that's distinct from what it means to be a part of that society. Being a hyperpolyglot means exactly the opposite. The hyperpolyglot's pursuit of many languages may be a bridge to the rest of the world, but it walls him off from his immediate language community.”
― Michael Erard, Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners

“Sentiments speak louder than language.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Karadeniz Chronicle: The Novel

“There are those who eagerly learn another language to be one with another culture, then there are those morons who insist on the exclusive glorification of their so-called native language. The world is beautified by the former, whereas the latter only sustain disharmony - the latter only act as a prehistoric impediment to the unification of humankind.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Gentalist: There's No Social Work, Only Family Work

“Would-be writers often ask me, do I ever get writer's block! I tell them, you get writer's block when you're imprisoned in one language and culture. Like the wind, I think, feel and live in numerous languages and cultures, which keeps me ever-ripe with more ideas than I could put down on pages.

Whether you are a writer or not, learn a language - it not only expands your head, it expands your heart, and makes you more humane. Porque, un idioma es una autopista a una cultura. A language is a freeway to a culture. Thus, learning a language is one of the tangible endeavors to help eliminate hate from the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Learning a language is one of the tangible endeavors to help eliminate hate from the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Polyglots have more fun.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Hometown Human Sonnet

Everybody loves Rumi,
I learnt his tongue,
So I could pick up where he left off.
Better than basking in borrowed light,
Is to be an original light to the world.

Everybody yells, viva la libertad,
I learnt el idioma, so I could
humanize the paradigm of revolution.
Everybody loves Indus valley diversity,
Annitiki munde anni shaashtralu nerchkunnanu,
So I'm never out of spice for my humanitarianism.

Everybody loves boasting about their culture,
I spent years making all the cultures my own.
Thus my strength was amplified a thousand folds,
My sight expanded beyond all norms of vision known.

Polyglots have more fun - there is no question.
When science, poetry and polyglottery come together,
That's the beginning of a paradigm bending revolution.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“I never studied linguistics,
Yet I became a linguistic enigma.
The sun never studied nuclear fusion,
Yet it is our planet's nuclear messiah.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

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

“Language is the rich fabric that enshrouds all experience that is truly human. Those who are hyperpolyglots therefore adorn multiple layers of beautiful fabrics at the same time. They have multiple lives in one sense; and they certainly have multiple souls.”
― Usman W. Chohan, HYPIA at One: HYPIA Annual Report 2017

“Reading a book in the foreign language without using a
dictionary? Are you sceptical? Don’t be! This is one of the
keys that opens up the door to the castle of languages.”
― Mihály Hevesi, The Open Secret of Polyglots - How to learn English or Other Languages with Kindle, Print or Audio Books