Hey there, fellow seekers of wisdom! Have you ever stumbled upon a quote that struck you like a lightning bolt, sparking a profound shift in your perspective? Well, get ready to have your mind blown, as we dive headfirst into the fascinating world of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical gems! It's the early 20th century, and in the hallowed halls of Cambridge University, a young Austrian philosopher named Ludwig Wittgenstein takes the academic world by storm with his radical ideas. Fast forward to today, and his remarkable insights continue to ripple through the realms of language, logic, and the human mind. In this article, we'll embark on an enthralling journey through 50 handpicked Wittgenstein quotes that will not only challenge your intellect but also leave you pondering the very fabric of reality.
It's a brisk autumn morning in Vienna, and a curious young boy named Ludwig witnesses his father, a wealthy industrialist, engrossed in a heated debate about the nature of reality with his close friends, including none other than the great philosopher Bertrand Russell. Wide-eyed and intrigued, Ludwig listens intently to the conversation swirling around him, igniting a lifelong passion for unraveling the mysteries of existence. Little did anyone know that this precocious youngster would grow up to become one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Wittgenstein's journey takes us from the trenches of World War I to the tranquil solitude of an isolated Norwegian fjord, where he penned his philosophical masterpiece, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.” Through his later work, he challenges the very essence of language and thought, inviting us to rethink the way we perceive the world around us.
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“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
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“The human body is the best picture of the human soul.”
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“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
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“The world is everything that is the case.”
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“To understand is to know what to do.”
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“A picture is a fact.”
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“The meaning of a word is its use in the language.”
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“The real question of life is what to do with the time that is given us.”
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“The thought is the thing with which we express our thoughts.”
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“The world is in my head. My thoughts are my world.”
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“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.”
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“Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.”
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“The world of the happy is quite another than that of the unhappy.”
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“Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.”
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“Don't take the world too seriously; it's just a stage for whatever we do.”
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“A philosophical problem has the form: ‘I don't know my way about.'”
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“Tell me what you pay attention to, and I will tell you who you are.”
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“The world is all that is the case, but what is the case is not all there is.”
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“The most important things are the hardest things to say.”
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“Ethics is aesthetics.”
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“The solution to the problem of life is seen in the vanishing of the problem.”
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“Language disguises the thought; so we may not see its importance.”
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“I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.”
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“The difficulty is to realize the groundlessness of our believing.”
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“Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.”
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“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.”
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“If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.”
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“In philosophy, the winner of the race is the one who runs slowest.”
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“The more I understand, the more I know that I don't understand.”
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“We are alone in this immense universe. Life is meaningless, but we must not give in to despair.”
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“Language games are not innocent.”
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“The world is all that is the case, but what is the case is not the whole world.”
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“When we can't think, we can still keep silent.”
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“To be human is to be involved with cloth and its endless variations.”
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“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”
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“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”
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“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
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“To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.”
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“Death is not an event in life; we do not live to experience death.”
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“Language is not something I use, it is something I am.”
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“The world is everything that is not the case.”
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“A confession has to be part of your new life.”
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“The hardest thing to find in life is balance – especially the more success you have, the more you look to the other side of the gate.”
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“The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.”
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“The only way to deal with life's hardships is to face them with courage and equanimity.”
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“The world is vast, and we are but a small part of it.”
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“What we cannot speak about, we must pass over in silence.”
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“Meaning is not in things, but in between them.”
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“Happiness is the highest good.”
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“Belief is like a coat that is comfortable, but doesn't fit anymore.”