"If language is not correct, then what..." - Quote by Confucius
If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.
More by Confucius
“Don't worry if people don't recognize your merits; worry that you may not recognize theirs.”
“Excessive (population) growth may reduce output per worker, repress levels of living for the masses and engender strife”
“The superior person gathers his weapons together in order to provide against the unforeseen.”
More on Language
More on Communication
“Truth has already ceased to be itself if polemically said.”
“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.”
“What other words, we may almost ask, are memorable and worthy to be repeated than those which love has inspired? It is wonderful that they were ever uttered. They are few and rare indeed, but, like a strain of music, they are incessantly repeated and modulated by the memory. All other words crumble off with the stucco which overlies the heart. We should not dare to repeat these now aloud. We are not competent to hear them at all times.”