Dr. Nina Jeanette Hofferberth

"The ability to speak is one of the basic ingredients of human life. We are social animals, deeply caring for the cohesion of our closest kin and for harmony in our daily personal contacts. From this perspective, the copious time idled away on chatting and gossiping is well spent. In all cultures, human bonding is largely achieved and maintained through speech."

Levelt, W.J.M. (1999). Producing spoken language: A blueprint of the speaker. In C. Brown & P. Hagoort (Eds.), The Neurocognition of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 83.