Philosophers / Thinkers

Top 67 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes (LANGUAGE)

Top 10 Most Famous Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes (BEST)

“Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
When we can't think for ourselves, we can always quote.Pin
When we can’t think for ourselves, we can always quote.
The human body is the best picture of the human soul.Pin
The human body is the best picture of the human soul.
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.Pin
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.
Hell isn't other people. Hell is yourself.Pin
Hell isn’t other people. Hell is yourself.
I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.Pin
I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.
If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.Pin
If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.Pin
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.Pin
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that’s unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.
The real question of life after death isn't whether or not it exists, but even if it does what problem this really solves.Pin
The real question of life after death isn’t whether or not it exists, but even if it does what problem this really solves.

12 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes on Language and Words

Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.Pin
Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.
The limits of my language means the limits of my world.Pin
The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.Pin
If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.
Language disguises thought.Pin
Language disguises thought.
One of the most misleading representational techniques in our language is the use of the word 'I.'Pin
One of the most misleading representational techniques in our language is the use of the word ‘I.’
All I know is what I have words for.Pin
All I know is what I have words for.
To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life.Pin
To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life.
Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.Pin
Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.
A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.Pin
A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.
Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.Pin
Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.
You learned the concept 'pain' when you learned language.Pin
You learned the concept ‘pain’ when you learned language.
The common behavior of mankind is the system of reference by means of which we interpret an unknown language.Pin
The common behavior of mankind is the system of reference by means of which we interpret an unknown language.

4 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes on Logic

Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.Pin
Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.
The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.Pin
The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.
Logic is not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. Logic is transcendental.Pin
Logic is not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. Logic is transcendental.
Logic must look after itself. In a certain sense, we cannot make mistakes in logic.Pin
Logic must look after itself. In a certain sense, we cannot make mistakes in logic.

8 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes About Life

We are asleep. Life is a dream. But we wake up sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming.Pin
We are asleep. Life is a dream. But we wake up sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming.
We learn by rearranging what we know.Pin
We learn by rearranging what we know.
What is thinkable is also possible.Pin
What is thinkable is also possible.
The face is the soul of the body.Pin
The face is the soul of the body.
Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery.Pin
Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery.
We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.Pin
We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.
Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.Pin
Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.
The World and Life are one.Pin
The World and Life are one.

9 Wise Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes to Live By (WISDOM)

Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.Pin
Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.
Only describe, don't explain.Pin
Only describe, don’t explain.
Don't for heaven's sake, be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention to your nonsense.Pin
Don’t for heaven’s sake, be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention to your nonsense.
To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth.Pin
To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth.
I act with complete certainty. But this certainty is my own.Pin
I act with complete certainty. But this certainty is my own.
What is the proof that I know something Most certainly not my saying I know it.Pin
What is the proof that I know something? Most certainly not my saying I know it.
A confession has to be part of your new life.Pin
A confession has to be part of your new life.
Don't get involved in partial problems, but always take flight to where there is a free view over the whole single great problem, even if this view is still not a clear one.Pin
Don’t get involved in partial problems, but always take flight to where there is a free view over the whole single great problem, even if this view is still not a clear one.
The problems are solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have always known.Pin
The problems are solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have always known.

13 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes that will Make You Think

“When I am furious about something, I sometimes beat the ground or a tree with my walking stick. But I certainly do not believe that the ground is to blame or that my beating can help anything… And all rites are of this kind.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.Pin
Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.
Don't think, but look!Pin
Don’t think, but look!
Every explanation is after all an hypothesis.Pin
Every explanation is after all an hypothesis.
What can be shown, cannot be said.Pin
What can be shown, cannot be said.
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.Pin
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
How small a thought it takes to fill a life.Pin
How small a thought it takes to fill a life.
Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.Pin
Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.
At the core of all well-founded belief lies belief that is unfounded.Pin
At the core of all well-founded belief lies belief that is unfounded.
Ethics and aesthetics are one.Pin
Ethics and aesthetics are one.
A man's thinking goes on within his consciousness in a seclusion in comparison with which any physical seclusion is an exhibition to public view.Pin
A man’s thinking goes on within his consciousness in a seclusion in comparison with which any physical seclusion is an exhibition to public view.
It seems to me that, in every culture, I come across a chapter headed 'Wisdom.' And then I know exactly what is going to follow 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'Pin
It seems to me that, in every culture, I come across a chapter headed ‘Wisdom.’ And then I know exactly what is going to follow: ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’
The world is the totality of facts, not of things.Pin
The world is the totality of facts, not of things.

6 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes on Philosophical Work

A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.Pin
A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.
It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.Pin
It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.Pin
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.Pin
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.
What is your aim in philosophy To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle.Pin
What is your aim in philosophy? To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle.
A philosophical problem has the form I don't know my way about.Pin
A philosophical problem has the form: I don’t know my way about.

5 Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes on Religion

“An honest religious thinker is like a tightrope walker. He almost looks as though he were walking on nothing but air. His support is the slenderest imaginable. And yet it really is possible to walk on it.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Religion is, as it were, the calm bottom of the sea at its deepest point, which remains calm however high the waves on the surface may be.Pin
Religion is, as it were, the calm bottom of the sea at its deepest point, which remains calm however high the waves on the surface may be.

“Not every religion has to have St. Augustine’s attitude to sex. Why even in our culture marriages are celebrated in a church, everyone present knows what is going to happen that night, but that doesn’t prevent it being a religious ceremony.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
For a truly religious man nothing is tragic.Pin
For a truly religious man nothing is tragic.

“If you and I are to live religious lives, it mustn’t be that we talk a lot about religion, but that our manner of life is different. It is my belief that only if you try to be helpful to other people will you in the end find your way to God.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein
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(MUST READ) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

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