Killing a man in defense of an idea is not defending an idea; it is killing a man.
Jean-Luc GodardRead
One must confront vague ideas with clear images.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Clarity in thought and expression is essential to understanding the complexities of vague ideas.
Jean-Luc Godard's quote emphasizes the importance of transforming abstract and unclear concepts into concrete and definitive representations. It suggests that vague ideas can lead to confusion, and to engage with these concepts effectively, one must find ways to illustrate and clarify them, turning them into clear images that facilitate understanding and communication.
Themes
ClarityIdeasImagesUnderstandingCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a seminar about philosophy, one might use this quote to illustrate the need for clear definitions.
More from Jean-Luc Godard
All quotes βI don't think you should feel about a film. You should feel about a woman, not a movie. You can't kiss a movie.
Jean-Luc GodardRead
Sometime reality is too complex. Stories give it form.
Jean-Luc GodardRead
More or less, I am always saying, 'Give me more. Let's do what has not been done.'
Jean-Luc GodardRead
Objects exist and if one pays more attention to them than to people, it is precisely because they exist more than the people. Dead objects are still alive. Living people are often already dead.
Jean-Luc GodardRead
Cinema is not a series of abstract ideas, but rather the phrasing of moments.
Jean-Luc GodardRead
Similar quotes
It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.
David MametRead
Class is something that I think seriously about and try to organise my politics around. I think there are lots of novels that don't really engage with questions of class at all, and they get less conversation about issues of social privilege than I do. But it's better to try and talk about it and maybe fail.
Sally RooneyRead
Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction.
Rebecca SolnitRead
In the end, we are not the roles we play. We are the light that animates every soul in the dance we call life.
Alan CohenRead
I had been brought up in a church which decides everything and permits no doubts, so that having rejected one article of faith I was forced to reject the rest.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
Here life itself, life at its best and healthiest, awaits the caprice of the bullet. Let us see the development of the day. All else may stand over, perhaps for ever. Existence is never so sweet as when it is at hazard.
Winston ChurchillRead