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Ludwig Wittgenstein

197 quotes

“It seems to me as good as certain that we cannot get the upper hand against England. The English — the best race in the world — cannot lose! We, however, can lose and shall lose, if not this year then next year. The thought that our race is going to be beaten depresses me terribly, because I am completely German.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing about the eventual outcome of World War I, in which he was a volunteer in the Austro-Hungarian army (25 October 1914), as quoted in The First World War (2004) by Martin Gilbert, p. 104
“I work quite diligently and wish that I were better and smarter. And these both are one and the same.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to Paul Engelmann (1917) as quoted in The Idea of Justice (2010) by Amartya Sen, p. 31
“You won't — I really believe — get too much out of reading it. Because you won't understand it; the content will seem strange to you. In reality, it isn't strange to you, for the point is ethical. I once wanted to give a few words in the foreword which now actually are not in it, which, however, I'll write to you now because they might be a key for you: I wanted to write that my work consists of two parts: of the one which is here, and of everything which I have not written. And precisely this second part is the important one.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, in a letter to Ludwig von Ficker (1919), published in Wittgenstein: Sources and Perspectives (1979) by C. Grant Luckhard
“It is necessary to be given the prop that all elementary props are given." This is not necessary because it is even impossible. There is no such prop! That all elementary props are given is SHOWN by there being none having an elementary sense which is not given.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Notes of 1919, as quoted in Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius (1990) by Ray Monk
“One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (11 October 1914), p. 10e
“Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (13 October 1914), also in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (§ 5.47)
“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.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (1 November 1914)
“My difficulty is only an — enormous — difficulty of expression.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (8 March 1915) p. 40
“I cannot get from the nature of the proposition to the individual logical operations!!! That is, I cannot bring out how far the proposition is the picture of the situation. I am almost inclined to give up all my efforts.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entries (12 March 1915 and 15 March 1915) p. 41e
“It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (1 May 1915)
“Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (14 May 1915), p. 48
“One of the most difficult of the philosopher's tasks is to find out where the shoe pinches.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Certainly it is correct to say: Conscience is the voice of God.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What do I know about God and the purpose of life? I know that this world exists. That I am placed in it like my eye in its visual field. That something about it is problematic, which we call its meaning. This meaning does not lie in it but outside of it. That life is the world. That my will penetrates the world. That my will is good or evil. Therefore that good and evil are somehow connected with the meaning of the world. The meaning of life, i.e. the meaning of the world, we can call God. And connect with this the comparison of God to a father. To pray is to think about the meaning of life.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (11 June 1916), p. 72e and 73e
“To believe in a God means to understand the question about the meaning of life. To believe in a God means to see that the facts of the world are not the end of the matter. To believe in God means to see that life has a meaning.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (8 July 1916), p. 74e
“There are two godheads: the world and my independent I. I am either happy or unhappy, that is all. It can be said: good or evil do not exist. A man who is happy must have no fear. Not even in the face of death. Only a man who lives not in time but in the present is happy.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (8 July 1916), p. 74e
“The World and Life are one. Physiological life is of course not "Life". And neither is psychological life. Life is the world. Ethics does not treat of the world. Ethics must be a condition of the world, like logic. Ethics and Aesthetics are one.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (24 July 1916), p. 77e
“It is true: Man is the microcosm: I am my world.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (12 October 1916), p. 84e
“What cannot be imagined cannot even be talked about.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (12 October 1916), p. 84e
“It is clear that the causal nexus is not a nexus at all.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (12 October 1916), p. 84e
“The aim of the book is to set a limit to thought, or rather — not to thought, but to the expression of thoughts: for in order to be able to set a limit to thought, we should have to find both sides of the limit thinkable (i.e. we should have to be able to think what cannot be thought). It will therefore only be in language that the limit can be set, and what lies on the other side of the limit will simply be nonsense.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man könnte den ganzen Sinn des Buches etwa in die Worte fassen: Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man schweigen.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Welt ist die Gesamtheit der Tatsachen, nicht der Dinge”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Was der Fall ist, die Tatsache, ist das Bestehen von Sachverhalten.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Das logische Bild der Tatsachen ist der Gedanke.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wohl können wir einen Sachverhalt räumlich darstellen, welcher den Gesetzen der Physik, aber keinen, der den Gesetzen der Geometrie zuwiderliefe.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Der Gedanke ist der sinnvolle Satz.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Der Zweck der Philosophie ist die logische Klärung der Gedanken. Die Philosophie ist keine Lehre, sondern eine Tätigkeit. Ein philosophisches Werk besteht wesentlich aus Erläuterungen. Das Resultat der Philosophie sind nicht „philosophische Sätze“, sondern das Klarwerden von Sätzen. Die Philosophie soll die Gedanken, die sonst, gleichsam, trübe und verschwommen sind, klar machen und scharf abgrenzen.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ein Satz kann unmöglich von sich selbst aussagen, dass er wahr ist.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Wahrheit der Tautologie ist gewiss, des Satzes möglich, der Kontradiktion unmöglich.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Der Satz ist eine Wahrheitsfunktion der Elementarsätze.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wenn ich die Elementarsätze nicht a priori angeben kann, dann muss es zu offenbarem Unsinn führen, sie angeben zu wollen.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Logik erfüllt die Welt; die Grenzen der Welt sind auch ihre Grenzen. Wir können also in der Logik nicht sagen: Das und das gibt es in der Welt, jenes nicht.Das würde nämlich scheinbar voraussetzen, dass wir gewisse Möglichkeiten ausschließen, und dies kann nicht der Fall sein, da sonst die Logik über die Grenzen der Welt hinaus müsste; wenn sie nämlich diese Grenzen auch von der anderen Seite betrachten könnte. Was wir nicht denken können, das können wir nicht denken; wir können also auch nicht sagen, was wir nicht denken können.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This remark provides the key to the problem, how much truth there is in solipsism. For what the solipsist means is quite correct; only it cannot be said, but makes itself manifest. The world is my world: this is manifest in the fact that the limits of language (of that language which alone I understand) mean the limits of my world.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Welt und das Leben sind Eins.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ich bin meine welt (Der Mikrokosmos.)”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Das Subjekt gehört nicht zur Welt, sondern es ist eine Grenze der Welt.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Die Welt des Glücklichen ist eine andere als die des Unglücklichen.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Der Tod ist kein Ereignis des Lebens. Den Tod erlebt man nicht. Wenn man unter Ewigkeit nicht unendliche Zeitdauer, sondern Unzeitlichkeit versteht, dann lebt der ewig, der in der Gegenwart lebt. Unser Leben ist ebenso endlos, wie unser Gesichtsfeld grenzenlos ist.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nicht wie die Welt ist, ist das Mystische, sondern dass sie ist.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Scepticism is not irrefutable, but obviously nonsensical, when it tries to raise doubts where no questions can be asked. For doubt can exist only where a question exists, a question only where an answer exists, and an answer only where something can be said.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Es gibt allerdings Unaussprechliches. Dies zeigt sich, es ist das Mystische.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Meine Sätze erläutern dadurch, dass sie der, welcher mich versteht, am Ende als unsinnig erkennt, wenn er durch sie—auf ihnen—über sie hinausgestiegen ist. (Er muss sozusagen die Leiter wegwerfen, nachdem er auf ihr hinaufgestiegen ist.)”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A proposition is completely logically analyzed if its grammar is made completely clear: no matter what idiom it may be written or expressed in...”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Philosophical Remarks (1930), Part I (1)
“Tell them I've had a wonderful life.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Last words, to his doctor's wife (28 April 1951)–as quoted in Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir (1966) by Norman Malcolm, p. 100
“(About Jesus) If He did not rise again, then He rotted in the grave like any other human being. He died and his body rotted.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: L. Wittgenstein, Pensieri diversi, Adelphi 1980, p. 68 (in Italian). Quoted here