grammar

“Only those who do not know how to think what they feel obey grammar. People who want to control their own expression use grammar. The story is told about Sigismund, King of Rome, that he made a grammatical error in one of his public speeches and responded to the person who pointed it out to him in this way: “I am King of Rome and am above grammar.” And the story goes on to say that from then on he was known as Sigismund ‘super-grammaticam.’ A wonderful symbol! Every person who knows how to say what he talks about is in his way King of Rome. The title isn’t bad, and its soul is being oneself.”

(Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet (trans. Alfred Mac Adam), from fragment 11)

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