quotes by Robert Bringhurst

"Literature in the written sense represents the triumph of language over writing: the subversion of writing for purposes that have little or nothing to do with social and economic control."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Solid Form Of Language: An Essay On Writing And Meaning)

"If language is lost, humanity is lost. If writing is lost, certain kinds of civilization and society are lost, but many other kinds remain - and there is no reason to think that those alternatives are inferior."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Solid Form Of Language: An Essay On Writing And Meaning)

"When you think intensely and beautifully, something happens. That something is called poetry. If you think that way and speak at the same time, poetry gets in your mouth. If people hear you, it gets in their ears. If you think that way and write at the same time, then poetry gets written. But poetry exists in any case. The question is only: are you going to take part, and if so, how?"
— Robert Bringhurst (The Tree of Meaning: Thirteen Talks)

"In a badly designed book, the letters mill and stand like starving horses in a field. In a book designed by rote, they sit like stale bread and mutton on the page. In a well-made book, where designer, compositor and printer have all done their jobs, no matter how many thousands of lines and pages, the letters are alive. They dance in their seats. Sometimes they rise and dance in the margins and aisles."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Elements of Typographic Style)

"Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Elements of Typographic Style)

"When you die, your culture takes you in, and then, if you've given enough, your place is near the centre."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Tree of Meaning: Thirteen Talks)

"Wings are a constraint that makes it possible to fly."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Tree of Meaning: Thirteen Talks)

"If you divide the world into them and us, and history into ours and theirs, or if you think of history as something only you and your affiliates possess, then no matter what you know, no matter how noble your intentions, you have taken one step toward the destruction of the world."
— Robert Bringhurst (The Tree of Meaning: Thirteen Talks)

"A man who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep, Frederic Goudy liked to say. If this wisdom needs updating, it is chiefly to add that a woman who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep as well ."
— Robert Bringhurst