” … the language we use is not just an instrument …”

” … the language we use is not just an instrument — however feeble, inexact, treacherous — for communicating as best we can with others. The language that we speak defines us. Our thoughts, our ethics, our aesthetics are all, up to a point, defined by our language. Each particular language provokes or allows a certain way of thinking, elicits certain specific thoughts that come to our mind not only through but because of the language we call ours.”

— “The Magical Power of Dictionaries”