To be able to read and write, therefore, is to learn to profit by and take part in the greatest of human achievements — that which makes all other achievements possible —namely, the pooling of our experiences in great cooperative stores of knowledge, available [...] to all. From the warning cry of primitive man to the latest newsflash or scientific monograph, language is social. Cultural and intellectual cooperation is the great principle of human life.

p. 14 - Language in Thought and Action (1949) - The Pooling of Knowledge