Our readingWhat is a korrent?
Language is fossil poetry: every dead word was once a vivid picture
Drawn from what Ralph Waldo Emerson said
What Ralph Waldo Emerson actually said
- Ralph Waldo Emerson American essayist and lecturer (1803 to 1882)
The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture. Language is fossil poetry.
Where this was said
↗Essays, Second Series (1844)gutenberg.org
All 20 korrents from this piecethis one is 2nd
Added to korrents 1 Nov 2026 · How quotes work · Something wrong? Tell us
Do you hold this korrent?Do you also believe this?
I hold this tooRelated korrents
Not worked out yet — this claim is newer than the last pass. Every hour, each claim that is new or has changed is compared with every other one in the archive; the last pass () came before this claim was recorded. The next is due , and this claim will be in it.