1 Quote Tagged: dumpty

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't — -till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"

"But glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean — -neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "Which is to be master — -that's all."

Alive was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them — -particularly, verbs, they're the proudest — -adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs — -however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"