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'Tis only man can words create,
And cut the air to sounds articulate
By nature's special charter. Nay, speech can
Make a shrewd discrepance 'twist man and man:
It doth the gentleman from clown discover;
And from a fool the grave philosopher;
As Solon said to one in judgment weak,
I thought thee wise until I heard thee speak.

— James Howell Attributed Poetical Quotations (1829)

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More quotes by James Howell

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

English Proverbs (1659)

Goose [pen] bee [wax] and calf [parchment] govern the world.

One hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen.

Familiar Letters (1645)

Nor is this lower world but a huge inn,
And men the rambling passengers.

Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweeteneth it.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James Howell (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.