Multilingualism Quotes

“...Orm always afterwards used to say that, after good luck, strength, and skill at arms, nothing was so useful to a man who found himself among foreigners as the ability to learn a language.”
― Frans G. Bengtsson, The Long Ships

“It was like taking a hammer to the home I had built in the Arabic language word by word, over many years in Sudan and Saudi Arabia. My increasing strength in English correlated negatively with my Arabic. The more I felt at home in English, the less Arabic felt like one. So much so that learning a new language was to acquire a new wound. Multilingualism meant multi-wounding.”
― Sulaiman Addonia

“Learning another language diminishes prejudice towards those who are different”
― Marisa J Taylor, Happy within / Feliz por dentro: Children's Book Bilingual English Spanish

“One small step towards a language is one giant leap towards inclusion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Would-be writers often ask me, do I ever get writer's block! I tell them, you get writer's block when you're imprisoned in one language and culture. Like the wind, I think, feel and live in numerous languages and cultures, which keeps me ever-ripe with more ideas than I could put down on pages.

Whether you are a writer or not, learn a language - it not only expands your head, it expands your heart, and makes you more humane. Porque, un idioma es una autopista a una cultura. A language is a freeway to a culture. Thus, learning a language is one of the tangible endeavors to help eliminate hate from the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Learning a language is one of the tangible endeavors to help eliminate hate from the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Culture shapes the language, Language shapes the culture. When you absorb another language, It reshapes your mental atmosphere.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“I became a polyglot by accident, I became a poet by accident, I became a scientist by accident, but one thing I didn't become by accident, is the bridge between cultures.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“My most soulful words come from me as a sufi (muslim) poet, my most righteous words come from me as a humanitarian scientist, my most passionate words come from me as a latin lover, and my most humane words come from me as an advaitin (nondualist). The entire world is contained in my chest. Vilify a single culture, and you vilify me.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“Polyglots have more fun.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Hometown Human Sonnet

Everybody loves Rumi,
I learnt his tongue,
So I could pick up where he left off.
Better than basking in borrowed light,
Is to be an original light to the world.

Everybody yells, viva la libertad,
I learnt el idioma, so I could
humanize the paradigm of revolution.
Everybody loves Indus valley diversity,
Annitiki munde anni shaashtralu nerchkunnanu,
So I'm never out of spice for my humanitarianism.

Everybody loves boasting about their culture,
I spent years making all the cultures my own.
Thus my strength was amplified a thousand folds,
My sight expanded beyond all norms of vision known.

Polyglots have more fun - there is no question.
When science, poetry and polyglottery come together,
That's the beginning of a paradigm bending revolution.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“When science, poetry and polyglottery come together, that's the beginning of a paradigm bending revolution.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“You are my Mecca,
You are my Bethlehem,
You are my El Dorada,
You are my Washington.

Istanbul to Alpha Centauri,
Tu sonrisa es mi cura.
California to Kanyakumari,
Sen gülünce ben fakira.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“The sun doesn't know how to shine over only one planet, I don't know how to illuminate only one culture. What this means is that, it's not that I don't write from the narrow prehistoric confines of one single culture or tribe - I don't know how to.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Rowdy Scientist: Handbook of Humanitarian Science

“Vicdansaadet, The Sonnet

I have many names,

Sometimes I am Hometown Human,
Sometimes I am Mucize Insan,
Sometimes I am Ingan Impossible,
Sometimes I am Mukemmel Musalman,

Sometimes I am Dervish Advaitam,
Sometimes I am Bulldozer on Duty,
Sometimes I am Corazon Calamidad,
Sometimes I am High Voltage Habib,

Sometimes I am Himalayan Sonneteer,
Sometimes I am The Gentalist,
Sometimes I am Divane Dynamite,
Sometimes I am Rowdy Scientist.

These all look and sound so different,
because you are distant in culture.
Move past the circus of manmade caves,
within every heart you'll find a Naskar.

Call it Naskar, Shams or Adi Shankara,
it is all but one spirit of oneness.
Wherever the fire of integration
takes hold, there emerges Vicdansaadet.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“When I wanna pen something extremely personal, without actually revealing anything, I just write it in spanish or turkish. If you wanna study the mountain, study the mainstream work - but if you wanna learn about the person, study the turkish and spanish portion of my work.

That's why most of the titles of my works are in turkish or spanish - because I can't write a single word unless I feel the title boiling in my blood - and although English is unofficially the first language of earth, because of its savage imperialist history, it is neither the profoundest nor the most beautiful language on earth.

Does that mean, we should wipe out english from the world altogether? Of course not - that would be yet another boneheaded exercise in bigotry and intolerance. Instead, what's really needed is a genuine humane intention to create a truly magnificent
multilingual society - towards a multicultural world. Learn to look beyond the puny confines of one petty language, because the world is too grand to be wasted in the gutter of one language and one culture. Every culture is my culture, every country is mine - defiant descendants of divided ancestors, hand in hand we shall fly.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Spangskritlish
(Sonnet for Tomorrow's Citizen)

जाग्रत, उत्तिष्ठ, जगत् स्कन्धे गृहाण,
आत्मानं विस्मरतु, संसारस्य अश्रुमार्जयतु।
द्वेषं हिंसां च सर्वं परित्यज्य,
जाग्रत, उत्तिष्ठ, सुमनुष्य भवतु।

Eres Dios, eres diablo -
Lo que decidas, ¡así será!
Human destiny is human decision,
Somos la iluminación en toda oscuridad.

We are the illumination,
We are the answer to our prayer.
Karanlık bile korkacak bizden,
When we rise as each other's keeper.

Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor.
While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Eres Dios, eres diablo -
Lo que decidas, ¡así será!
Human destiny is human decision,
Somos la iluminación en toda oscuridad.

We are the illumination,
We are the answer to our prayer.
Karanlık bile korkacak bizden,
When we rise as each other's keeper.

Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor.
While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“Time is love, love is time -
Tiempo es amor, amor es tiempo.
Her saat sevda saatidir,
Humano es amor, amor humano.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“I have but one law - I don't exist. I don't have a homeland, I don't have a native tongue, I don't have an origin culture - for you are my home, your tongue is my tongue, your culture is my culture.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Right or Human: 300 Limericks of Inclusion

“Dolor del mundo es nuestro dolor. While the apes doze, human builds the road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“The biggest requirement of learning is to know your limits of the moment. Let me elaborate with an example. Alongside my mainstream works, I have wanted to create complete works in turkish and spanish for several years. And few years back, with my rather limited experiential understanding of both languages, I even took it upon myself to do so, but I got stuck on the very first page. Why? Because it is one thing to pen occasional gems in another language, and totally different to release an entire work in that language. I was ready at heart, but not at brain. So, instead of writing whole works in these languages, I simply made turkish and spanish a joyful addition to my mainstream work - however the original linguistic and cultural intention kept reflecting in the titles of works, such as Aşkanjali, The Gentalist, Gente Mente Adelante, Mucize Insan and so on. It was not until late 2023 that my brain finally caught up with my heart, and delivered the first complete original turkish and spanish Naskarean works to the world.

Know your strongholds, they'll take you far. Know your shortfalls, they'll take you farther. Strongholds help you enhance your predominant capacities, whereas shortfalls help you unfold new possibilities - they help you unfold new vistas of human endeavor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Language is magic,
I wield that magic in my breath.
My brain is a symphony of portals,
each transcending past exclusivity,
into distinct linguocultural awareness.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Language is magic, culture is magic,
I wield that magic in my breath.
My brain is a symphony of portals,
Each transcending past exclusivity,
into distinct linguocultural awareness.”
― Abhijit Naskar

“Broken polyglots are potent polyglots.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Plenticultural (Sonnet 1434)

When I get mad, I revert to English,
because English is my first language.
When I feel romantic, I revert to Turkish,
because Turkish is my love language.

When I feel passionate, I revert to Spanish,
because Spanish is my passion language.
When I feel electric, I revert to Telugu,
because Telugu is my power language.

When nothing works, I revert to Korean,
because Korean is my backup language.
And you wonder why I never run empty,
why the natural spring is ever abundant!

Language is the gateway to culture,
Culture is the gateway to life.
I am no person who speaks many tongues,
I am the proof of plenticultural life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Language is the gateway to culture,
Culture is the gateway to life.
I am no person who speaks many tongues,
I am the proof of plenticultural life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Language is the gateway to culture, culture is the gateway to life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Languages are but echoes of each other, Based on the environment each feels unique. No language is superior, no language is inferior, All are born of human mind to meet at heart's peak.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect

“I don't do drugs, languages are my LSD.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Abigitano: El Divino Refugiado