Responsibility was the inevitable price one had to pay for independence; irresponsibility was something which, in the very nature of things, could not co-exist with independence.
Commodore Hornblower (p. 230). Kindle Edition.
[While trying to speak French...] But conversation did not proceed smoothly, with Hornblower having laboriously to build up his sentences beforehand and to avoid the easy descent into Spanish which was liable to entrap him whenever he began to think in a foreign tongue.
Flying Colours (p. 98). Kindle Edition.
One of the three epic series that I re-read regularly, probably every three-ish years, is the Hornblower saga by C. S. Forester. (The others being Tolkien's Middle Earth works and Herbert's Dune saga.) Anyways, I recently finished reading Hornblower again and pulled out these two lovely quotes. The first is a bit of sage wisdom [is there another type?!] which seems especially applicable to parents raising children... and everyone else.
The second quote is a rather sympathetic insight of the ambush laid for anyone who has dabbled in third or fourth languages. Whichever non-native language is strongest is always lingering just over the horizon to ensnare the speaker in their other languages, occasionally even twisting the native language itself!
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