Something in the world forces us to think. This something is an object not of recognition but of a fundamental encounter.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
Language is not made to be believed but to be obeyed, and to compel obedience newspapers, news, proceed by redundancy, in that they tell us what we ‘must’ think, retain, expect, etc. language is neither informational nor communicational. It is not the communication of information but something quite different: the transmission of order-words, either from one statement to another or within each statement, insofar as each statement accomplishes an act and the act is accomplished in the statement
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that language serves to enforce authority and compliance rather than simply convey information.
Gilles Deleuze argues that language is not merely a tool for communication or conveying information; instead, it functions primarily to command and dictate behavior. He posits that newspapers and news perpetuate this by instilling a sense of obligation on readers regarding what to think or expect, emphasizing that the essence of language lies in its power to convey orders and shape actions, rather than merely sharing knowledge.
Themes
LanguageObedienceCommunicationPowerAuthority
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about media influence at a journalism conference.
More from Gilles Deleuze
All quotes →Intuition is neither a feeling, an inspiration nor a disorderly sympathy but a fully developed method.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
Let us create extraordinary words, on condition that they be put to the most ordinary use and that the entity they designate be made to exist in the same way as the most common object.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
Forming grammatically correct sentences is for the normal individual the prerequisite for any submission to social laws. No one is supposed to be ignorant of grammaticality; those who are belong in special institutions. The unity of language is fundamentally political.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
Art is not communicative, art is not reflexive. Art, science, philosophy are neither contemplative, neither reflexive, nor communicative. They are creative, that's all.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
To affirm is not to bear, carry, or harness oneself to that which exists, but on the contrary to unburden, unharness, and set free that which lives.
Gilles DeleuzeRead
Similar quotes
Fundamentalism as it is called is not confined to the Muslim world. It is something that we have seen in different parts of the world. Let us hope that a dialogue between the followers of the three great monotheistic religions could help in putting an end to this.
King Hussein IRead
Clearly I miss Him, having been brought up in religion. But now a man must be responsible to himself.
Ernest HemingwayRead
Angels speak. They appear and reappear. They feel with apt sense of emotion. While Angels may become visible by choice, our eyes are not conducted to see them ordinarily any more than we can see the dimensions of a nuclear field, the structure of atoms, or the electricity that flows through copper wiring.
Billy GrahamRead
The long habit of living indisposeth us for dying.
Thomas BrowneRead
His words even imply that philanthropy has deeper depths than is generally realized. The great emotions of compassion and mercy are traced to Him; there is more to human deeds than the doers are aware. He identified every act of kindness as an expression of sympathy with Himself. All kindnesses are either done explicitly or implicitly in His name, or they are refused explicitly or implicitly in His name.
Fulton J. SheenRead
The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return, and we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.
Carl SaganRead