Literature exists at the same time in the modes of error and truth; it both betrays and obeys its own mode of being.
Paul De ManRead
Curiously enough, it seems to be only in describing a mode of language which does not mean what it says that one can actually say what one means.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Meaning can often be found in the nuances of language rather than in its literal sense.
This quote by Paul De Man highlights the complexity of language and meaning. It suggests that to truly convey one's thoughts or feelings, one must often describe language itself in a way that acknowledges its indirectness; sometimes, the deeper truths are only expressed through the subtleties and contradictions found in our mode of communication.
Themes
LanguageMeaningCommunicationNuancePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a linguistics lecture on the fluidity of meaning in communication.
More from Paul De Man
All quotes βThe ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with which it cannot coincide. As such, it both affirms and denies its own nature.
Paul De ManRead
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