Is Shakespeare just "Words, words, mere words"?

Recent comments from the dean of a small liberal arts college remind us why Shakespeare's mastery of language is not just "Words, words, mere words," (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II) but still resonates today.

If the curriculum is to be a useful instrument in perfecting nature, then there are certain elements in it that will remain substantially the same, given the essential aspects of human nature, namely, the capacity for thought and reflection and the ability to express those thoughts.  Language is the tool that we use for thinking, making comparisons, discovering relations, and communicating them to others.  Thus, language, with its functions of communication and thought, must form the core of the general education curriculum.