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Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. Described by Bertrand Russell as "the most perfect example I have ever known of...
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"What is your aim in philosophy?---To shew the fly the way out of the fly-bottle."

"What is your aim in philosophy?---To shew the fly the way out of the fly-bottle."

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Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.

Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.

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I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse's good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.

I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse's good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.

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Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.

Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.

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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.

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.

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Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.

Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.

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Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.

Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.

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It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.

It is one of the chief skills of the philosopher not to occupy himself with questions which do not concern him.

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Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.

Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.

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You must always be puzzled by mental illness. The thing I would dread most, if I became mentally ill, would be your adopting a common sense attitude; that you could take it for granted that I was deluded.

You must always be puzzled by mental illness. The thing I would dread most, if I became mentally ill, would be your adopting a common sense attitude; that you could take it for granted that I was deluded.

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Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world. So if it is correct to say that humor was stamped out in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits, or anything of that sort, but something much deeper and more important.

Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world. So if it is correct to say that humor was stamped out in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits, or anything of that sort, but something much deeper and more important.

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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.

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.

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If you do know that here is one hand, we'll grant you all the rest.

If you do know that here is one hand, we'll grant you all the rest.

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For a truly religious man nothing is tragic.

For a truly religious man nothing is tragic.

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Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.

Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.

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One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.

One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.

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A confession has to be part of your new life.

A confession has to be part of your new life.

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It is so characteristic, that just when the mechanics of reproduction are so vastly improved, there are fewer and fewer people who know how the music should be played.

It is so characteristic, that just when the mechanics of reproduction are so vastly improved, there are fewer and fewer people who know how the music should be played.

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We regard the photograph, the picture on our wall, as the object itself (the man, landscape, and so on) depicted there. This need not have been so. We could easily imagine people who did not have this relation to such pictures. Who, for example, would be repelled by photographs, because a face without color and even perhaps a face in reduced proportions struck them as inhuman.

We regard the photograph, the picture on our wall, as the object itself (the man, landscape, and so on) depicted there. This need not have been so. We could easily imagine people who did not have this relation to such pictures. Who, for example, would be repelled by photographs, because a face without color and even perhaps a face in reduced proportions struck them as inhuman.

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If a person tells me he has been to the worst places I have no reason to judge him; but if he tells me it was his superior wisdom that enabled him to go there, then I know he is a fraud.

If a person tells me he has been to the worst places I have no reason to judge him; but if he tells me it was his superior wisdom that enabled him to go there, then I know he is a fraud.

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For a large class of cases -- though not for all -- in which we employ the word meaning it can be defined thus: the meaning of a word is its use in the language.

For a large class of cases -- though not for all -- in which we employ the word meaning it can be defined thus: the meaning of a word is its use in the language.

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Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.

Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.

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Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

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There are remarks that sow and remarks that reap.

There are remarks that sow and remarks that reap.

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If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.

If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.

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The human body is the best picture of the human soul.

The human body is the best picture of the human soul.

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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).

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).

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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.

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.

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You get tragedy where the tree, instead of bending, breaks.

You get tragedy where the tree, instead of bending, breaks.

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A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.

A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.

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The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.

The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.

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The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.

The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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The real discovery is the one which enables me to stop doing philosophy when I want to. -- The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented by questions which bring itself into question.

The real discovery is the one which enables me to stop doing philosophy when I want to. -- The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented by questions which bring itself into question.

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Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.

Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.

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Man has to awaken to wonder -- and so perhaps do peoples. Science is a way of sending him to sleep again.

Man has to awaken to wonder -- and so perhaps do peoples. Science is a way of sending him to sleep again.

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A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.

A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.

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A new word is like a fresh seed sewn on the ground of the discussion.

A new word is like a fresh seed sewn on the ground of the discussion.

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Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found in the grammar of the language.

Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found in the grammar of the language.

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Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.

Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.

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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.

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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Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.

Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.

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No one likes having offended another person; hence everyone feels so much better if the other person doesn't show he's been offended. Nobody likes being confronted by a wounded spaniel. Remember that. It is much easier patiently -- and tolerantly -- to avoid the person you have injured than to approach him as a friend. You need courage for that.

No one likes having offended another person; hence everyone feels so much better if the other person doesn't show he's been offended. Nobody likes being confronted by a wounded spaniel. Remember that. It is much easier patiently -- and tolerantly -- to avoid the person you have injured than to approach him as a friend. You need courage for that.

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Our civilization is characterized by the word progress. Progress is its form rather than making progress being one of its features. Typically it constructs. It is occupied with building an ever more complicated structure. And even clarity is sought only

Our civilization is characterized by the word progress. Progress is its form rather than making progress being one of its features. Typically it constructs. It is occupied with building an ever more complicated structure. And even clarity is sought only

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It is a dogma of the Roman Church that the existence of God can be proved by natural reason. Now this dogma would make it impossible for me to be a Roman Catholic. If I thought of God as another being like myself, outside myself, only infinitely more powerful, then I would regard it as my duty to defy him.

It is a dogma of the Roman Church that the existence of God can be proved by natural reason. Now this dogma would make it impossible for me to be a Roman Catholic. If I thought of God as another being like myself, outside myself, only infinitely more powerful, then I would regard it as my duty to defy him.

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