If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
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.
Interpretation
Understanding a word's function requires examining its use, but biases can hinder this process.
In this quote, Ludwig Wittgenstein emphasizes the importance of looking at the practical use of language to understand how words function. He acknowledges that while this approach is essential, entrenched prejudices can obstruct our ability to see language clearly, suggesting that overcoming these biases is critical for true comprehension.
In practice
In a lecture on linguistics, this quote could highlight the importance of context in language learning.
If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.
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.
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?
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.
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.
I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again 'I know that that’s a tree', pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: 'This fellow isn’t insane. We are only doing philosophy.
I'm a firm believer that there's no way that a six-year-old should have a helmet on and learn a tackling drill.
I didn't go to school a full year until I was 11 or 12, so I lived in books. I really was an observer of life.
Don't just plan to write - write. It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.
Woe to that nation whose literature is disturbed by the intervention of power. Because that is not just a violation against "freedom of print," it is the closing down of the heart of the nation, a slashing to pieces of its memory.
I had an American journalist say to me, "Is it true you wrote the whole of the first novel on napkins?" I was tempted to say, "On teabags, I used to save them.
Teaching needs an ecosystem that supports evidence-based practice. It will need better systems to disseminate the results of research more widely, but also a better understanding of research, so that teachers can be critical consumers of evidence.
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