If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Mathematics is a logical method. . . . Mathematical propositions express no thoughts. In life it is never a mathematical proposition which we need, but we use mathematical propositions only in order to infer from propositions which do not belong to mathematics to others which equally do not belong to mathematics.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics serves as a tool for understanding the world rather than as a standalone source of meaning.
In this quote, Ludwig Wittgenstein emphasizes that mathematical reasoning is not an end in itself but a means to connect and infer ideas that are grounded in the non-mathematical aspects of life. He suggests that while mathematical propositions are logical constructs, true understanding comes from applying these constructs to the complexities of human experience and thought, which cannot be encapsulated by numbers or formulas alone.
Themes
MathematicsLogicPhilosophyUnderstandingPropositionsLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the application of mathematics in philosophy, this quote can illustrate the limitations of mathematical reasoning in understanding human experience.
More from Ludwig Wittgenstein
All quotes →One cannot guess how a word functions. One has to look at its use and learn from that. But the difficulty is to remove the prejudice which stands in the way of doing this. It is not a stupid prejudice.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
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.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
It's impossible for me to say one word about all that music has meant to me in my life. How, then, can I hope to be understood?
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
My day passes between logic, whistling, going for walks, and being depressed. I wish to God that I were more intelligent and everything would finally become clear to me - or else that I needn't live much longer.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Similar quotes
The truly great man is he who would master no one, and who would be mastered by none.
Khalil GibranRead
I didn’t want any flowers, I only wanted to lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty. How free it is, you have no idea how free.
Sylvia PlathRead
Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilization.
Oscar WildeRead
Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers. In the perfect stranger we perceive man himself; the image of a God is not disguised by resemblances to an uncle or doubts of wisdom of a mustache.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
Men are most powerfully affected by those evils which themselves feel, or which appear before their own eyes.
Samuel JohnsonRead
WE ARE DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY - I mean our country itself, our land. This is a terrible thing to know, but it is not a reason for despair unless we decide to continue the destruction. If we decide to continue the destruction, that will not be because we have no other choice. This destruction is not necessary. It is not inevitable, except that by our submissiveness we make it so.
Wendell BerryRead