Vienna, Austria

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher, considered by many to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century (and described by Bertrand Russell as “the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived, passionate, profound, intense, and dominating.”)

Wittegenstein’s influence has been felt in nearly every field of the humanities and social sciences. Here are some of my favorite “quotables” of his…

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Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness,
but come down into the green valleys of silliness.

If people never did silly things
nothing intelligent would ever get done.

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.

Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.

I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse’s good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.

Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found in the grammar of the language.

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

If a lion could talk, we would not hear him.

A new word is like a fresh seed
sown on the ground of the discussion.

Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.

At the end of reasons comes persuasion.

The face is the soul of the body.

A picture is a fact.