Through the medium of words we are able to communicate to others our thoughts, not only of the external world about us, but also of the mental world in which we live. We can tell of our loves, our hates, our dreams and our ideals. Animals find the natural language of looks and tones and gestures sufficient because they live almost wholly upon the physical plane. But man lives in a mental world as well as in a physical one, and must have a spoken and written language by which to express his thoughts.

Exercise 1

Select from the following sentences those which it is possible to express by a look or tone or gesture, and those which can not be expressed without words:

  1. I am glad.
  2. I am glad because men are struggling for freedom.
  3. I am hungry.
  4. I am hungry for the chance for an education.
  5. Come.
  6. Come, let us reason together.
  7. I am afraid.
  8. I am afraid that we must wait long for peace.
  9. Go.
  10. Go, search the world over for the truth.
  11. I am disgusted.
  12. I am disgusted with those who will not think for themselves.
  13. I am tired.
  14. I am tired of these petty squabbles among comrades.

OUR EXPRESSION

9. Our knowledge of language opens up a new world to us. We can communicate with those about us; we can open the storehouse of the knowledge of the past as recorded in books, or as two of our writers have expressed it:

Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to read means—that it is the key which admits to the world of thought and fancy and imagination—to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments—that it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears and listen to the sweetest voices of all time?—Lowell.

Strip man of his books and his papers, and he becomes a mere slave, ignorant of his own resources, ignorant of his rights and opportunities. The difference between the free citizen of today and the savage of yesterday is almost entirely a thing of books. The man who dislikes books can never be entirely happy, and he who loves a good book can never be wholly miserable.—Hillis.

Have you never felt that struggle within and the sense of defeat when you have tried to make some one feel as you feel, understand as you understand, see some great truth as you see it, and could not find the words with which to express your ideas?

10. The mastery of words gives; first, the ability to understand the spoken or written thoughts of others; second, the ability to adequately express our own thoughts; and third, the ability to think clearly and to grow in our intellectual life.