'When we breathe, we take in the oxygen we need to live, but we also acquire at the same time the air necessary to form words, and these are sent fort, when we exhale, in the same way that the lion growls or the hyena chortles. Breath (pneuma) has always been seen as a sign of life, and was once identical with the soul. Don't fall for phrases like 'gut feeling' or 'coming from the heart'. Language is born in the lungs and is shaped by the lips, palate, teeth and tongue our of spent breath - that is, from carbon dioxide. That is why plants like being spoken to. Language is speech before it is anything. It is born of babble and shaped by imitating other sounds. It therefore must be listened to while it is being written.'
William H. Gass, 'A Temple of Texts'
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