One of the advantages of travelling the world is that you get to know the world broadly. And one of the advantages of staying in one place is that you get to know the world deeply.
Alan MooreRead
Language comes first. It's not that language grows out of consciousness, if you haven't got language, you can't be conscious.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language is fundamental to consciousness; you need language to have awareness.
In this quote, Alan Moore argues that language is not merely a tool that arises from our conscious thoughts but is intrinsic to our very ability to be conscious. Without language, our capacity for awareness, thought, and understanding is fundamentally limited, suggesting that language shapes our reality and perceptions rather than just describing them.
Themes
LanguageConsciousnessAwarenessThoughtReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on cognitive science, one might cite this quote to emphasize the importance of language in understanding human thought.
More from Alan Moore
All quotes βThe only reality we can ever truly know is that of our perceptions, our own consciousness, while that consciousness, and thus our entire reality, is made of nothing but signs and symbols. Nothing but language. Even God requires language before conceiving the Universe. See Genesis: βIn the beginning was the Word.
Alan MooreRead
My main point about films is that I don't like the adaptation process, and I particularly don't like the modern way of comic book-film adaptations, where, essentially, the central characters are just franchises that can be worked endlessly to no apparent point.
Alan MooreRead
The magician to some degree is trying to drive him or herself mad in a controlled setting, within controlled laws.
Alan MooreRead
When I was working upon the ABC books, I wanted to show different ways that mainstream comics could viably have gone, that they didn't have to follow 'Watchmen' and the other 1980s books down this relentlessly dark route. It was never my intention to start a trend for darkness. I'm not a particularly dark individual.
Alan MooreRead
Love your rage, not your cage.
Alan MooreRead
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