Frazer is much more savage than most of his savages, for they are not as far removed from the understanding of spiritual matter as a twentieth-century Englishman. His explanations of primitive practices are much cruder than the meaning of these practices themselves.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Categorized in : Spiritual Practice Understanding

The limits of my language means the limits of my world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

philosophical communication wisdom

When we can't think for ourselves, we can always quote

Ludwig Wittgenstein

thinking

Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

investing deception deceiving

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

philosophical silence philosophy

I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

sarcastic happiness philosophy

Since social relationships are always ambiguous, since my thought is only a unit, since my thoughts create rifts as much as they unite, since my words establish contacts by being spoken and create isolation by remaining unspoken, since an immense moat separates the subjective certitude that I have for myself from the objective reality that I represent to others, since I never stop finding myself guilty even though I feel I am innocent.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

moats rift reality

To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

errors truth path

If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

communication different world

The real question of life after death isn't whether or not it exists, but even if it does what problem this really solves.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

problem real doe

We learn by rearranging what we know.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

rearranging knows

If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

dream education inspirational

What do I know about God and the purpose of life? I know that this world exists. That I am placed in it like my eye in its visual field. That something about it is problematic, which we call its meaning. This meaning does not lie in it but outside of it. That life is the world. That my will penetrates the world. That my will is good or evil. Therefore that good and evil are somehow connected with the meaning of the world.The meaning of life, i.e. the meaning of the world, we can call God. And connect with this the comparison of God to a father.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

eye father lying

A mathematical proof must be perspicuous.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

mathematical proof mathematics

Kierkegaard was by far the most profound thinker of the last century. Kierkegaard was a saint.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

saint lasts profound

Make sure that your religion is a matter between you and God only.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

matter

A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push it.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

moving-on moving-forward men

Aim at being loved without being admired.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

being-loved aim

The problems are solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have always known.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

information giving long

The human body is the best picture of the human soul.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

philosophical communication fitness

When one is frightened of the truth then it is never the whole truth that one has an inkling of.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

philosophical truth philosophy