Within speech, words are subject to a kind of relation that is independent of the first and based on their linkage: these are syntagmatic relations, of which I have spoken.

I’m almost never serious, and I’m always too serious. Too deep, too shallow. Too sensitive, too cold hearted. I’m like a collection of paradoxes.

The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.

It is one of the aims of linguistics to define itself, to recognise what belongs within its domain. In those cases where it relies upon psychology, it will do so indirectly, remaining independent.

The critical principle demanded an examination, for instance, of the contribution of different periods, thus to some extent embarking on historical linguistics.

Linguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one branch of languages or another.

Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will involve the same psychology as is applicable in the case of languages.

Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula.

Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law

A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...

Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.

You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul - you are disappointed.

Rapid change, accommodating it can be one of the great human capacities. But living through it can be the stuff of stress and often suffering.

I wake up every morning, and I go to ballet class no matter what's going on the night before. That's my priority, and that's what makes me feel sane and not removed from the realities of my world.

How do you say a thing at all, at the end of the day? How do you say what's in your mind? And as soon as you say what you actually have in mind, it's wrong, isn't it?

When you're fired, you're rejected. It's as simple as that.

There can be no compromise on the right of personal security; there can be no compromise on securing of human rights.

The producer is at the center of entertainment. The producer is being forgotten, and producers must seize the center of activity.

When I feel a little confused, the only thing to do is to turn back to the study of nature before launching once again into the subjects closest to heart.

I don't necessarily recommend directing your husband or wife in a film, but if you have to do it, you have to do it.

Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.