There is in the word, in the logos, something sacred which forbids us to gamble with it. To handle a language skilfuly is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.
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.
Original text (French)
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Notes from Wikiquote
XIV: "Théophile Gautier" , as translated in The Idea of Poetry in France : From Houdar de La Motte to Baudelaire (1958) by Margaret Gilman, p. 263 | 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.
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