About This Quote
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Words are made for a certain exactness of thought, as tears are for a certain degree of pain. What is least distinct cannot be named; what is clearest is unutterable.” He was speaking about the difficulty in expressing thoughts that are expressed in words. The thoughts can be very clear but our language fails us because it is not precise enough to express them. And when he said “unutterable,” he was making the point that it’s impossible to say something in words that cannot be said. And he uses the word “utterable” because when you cannot say something in words, it becomes unutterable.
Source: A Night Of Serious Drinking
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