569 Quotes by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Every sign by itself seems dead. What gives it life? – In use it is alive. Is life breathed into it there? – Or is the use its life?

Another alternative would have been to give you what’s called a popular-scientific lecture, that is a lecture intended to make you believe that you understand a thing which actually you don’t understand, and to gratify what I believe to be on of the lowest desires of modern people, namely the superficial curiosity about the latest discoveries of science.

If you already have a person’s love no sacrifice can be too much to give for it; but any sacrifice is too great to buy it for you.

Philosophy just puts everything before us, and neither explains nor deduces anything.-Since everything lies open to view there is nothing to explain.

It seems to me that, in every culture, I come across a chapter headed ‘Wisdom.’ And then I know exactly what is going to follow: ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’

This sort of thing has got to be stopped. Bad philosophers are like slum landlords. It’s my job to put them out of business.

But doesn’t it come out here that knowledge is related to a decision?

We just do not see how very specialized the use of “I know” is.

Is it even always an advantage to replace an indistinct picture by a sharp one? Isn’t the indistinct one often what we need?