frontiers of language

But before we come to that which is unspeakable and unthinkable, 

the spirit hovers on the frontiers of language, 

wondering whether or not to stay on its own side of the border, 

in order to have something to bring back to other men. 

This is the test of those who wish to cross the frontier. 

If they are not ready to leave their own ideas 

and their own words behind them, 

they cannot travel further. 

~ Thomas Merton

from No Man is an Island