Mould, Canalize, Direct

Aldous Huxley
Words and Their Meanings
(Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1940)

Courtesy of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

From the book flap on the dustcover:

This is the first publication of a new work by Aldous Huxley in a field in which he has long been interested. It is a consideration of the power of words "to mould men's thinking, to canalize their feeling, to direct their willing and acting. Conduct and character are largely determined by the nature of the words we currently use to discuss ourselves and the world around us."

From inside, on continuity and the presence of records:

There may be geniuses among the gorillas; but since gorillas have no conceptual language, the thoughts and achievements of these geniuses cannot be recorded and so are lost to simian posterity.

From further inside, an ascesis:

To learn to use words correctly is to learn, among other things, the art of foregoing immediate excitements and immediate personal triumphs. Much self control and great disinterestedness are needed by those who would realize the ideal of never misusing language.

I could remain silent and listen to Bach. I should.

And so for day 2415
24.07.2013