Language is invented by sheer inspiration, according to the Taoists. Tagore echoed: God's silence ripens man's thoughts into speech. I have reached my conclusion: You can be god if you shut up your mouth.

神的静默使人的思想成熟而为语言。

Language blurs your mind, and projects a distorted picture of the reality, because truth is beyond the ability of language--a delicate and confusing system that is nevertheless vital to human beings. Tagore commented: What you are you do not see, what you see is your shadow. Therefore, I would have to say what you say is the shadow of your shadow.

你看不见你自己，你所看见的只是你的影子。

Language nurtures literature only when it's free of truth. Tagore again taught us: The waterfall sing, "I find my song, when I find my freedom." Sad as it is, I am much less of a scientist if I keep enjoying the freedom of language and imagination.

瀑布歌唱道：“我得到自由时便有了歌声了。”

Language makes us human, a view accepted by people from all walks. Tagore becomes one of them, putting it this way: The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing. But Man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air. It seems I have nothing left to say, except listening to the sea, the earth and the air.

水里的游鱼是沉默的，陆地上的兽类是喧闹的，空中的飞鸟是歌唱着的。

但是，人类却兼有海里的沉默，地上的喧闹与空中的音乐。

Language is responsible for all inhuman things humans do. But Tagore disagrees: We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us. This, in my view, is not the fault of language, but that lies told a thousand times become truth.

我们把世界看错了，反说它欺骗我们。

Language helps mutual understanding. Tagore gives us this example: I am ashamed of my emptiness, said the Word to the Work. I know how poor I am when I see you, said the Work to the Word. In our body, I think, the Word and the Work are integrated.

文字对工作说道：“我惭愧我的空虚。”

工作对文字说道：“当我看见你的时，我便知道我是怎样地贫乏了。”

Language is developmental in almost every sense. Tagore supported this view by describing the inseparable friend of language: Thought feeds itself with its own words and grows.

思想以他自己的语言喂养它自己而成长起来了。

Language is ultimately human, for Tagore stresses its human aspect: A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it. To me, language can be approached in both ways: sense and sensibility. From sense, we understand the world. From sensibility, we feel the world. Both aspects are part of human nature.

全是理智的心，恰如一柄全是锋刃的刀。

它叫使用它的人手上流血。

(All poems by Tagore from Stray Bird)