'Language is a living thing'

 

“Language is a living thing. We can feel it changing. Parts of it become old: they drop off and are forgotten. New pieces bud out, spread into leaves, and become big branches, proliferating.” – Gilbert Highet

 

A classicist and literary historian, Highet was born in Scotland in June of 1912 and emigrated to the U.S. with his wife – the great writer Helen MacInnes – in 1938. 

 

The longtime head of the Greek and Latin Department at Columbia University, he wrote numerous essays and books, hosted a radio program, and served as a judge for the Book-of-the-Month Club and on the editorial board of Horizon magazine.               

 

But he liked teaching best, and won numerous awards and accolades for his classroom work.  "The chief aim of education is to show you, after you make a livelihood, how to enjoy living,” he said.   “You can live longest and best and most rewardingly by attaining and preserving the happiness of learning."   His 1976 book The Immortal Profession: The Joys of Teaching and Learning provides an amazing look at this great teacher’s style.

 

 “(Books) are not just lumps of lifeless paper,” he said, “but minds alive on the shelves.”