Assay/etymology

Famous quotes containing the words assay and/or etymology:

    “The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne,
    Th’ assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge,
    The dredful joye, alwey that slit so yerne;
    Al this mene I be love.”
    —Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400)

    “The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
    —Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)