Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 – 1951)
Austrian-born philosopher who spent much of his life in England.
I must plunge into the water of doubt again and again.
The later Wittgenstein, on the contrary, seems to have grown tired of serious thinking and to have invented a doctrine which would make such an activity unnecessary. I do not for one moment believe that the doctrine which has these lazy consequences is true. I realize, however, that I have an overpoweringly strong bias against it, for, if it is true, philosophy is, at best, a slight help to lexicographers, and at worst, an idle tea-table amusement.
The ceremonial (hot or cold) as opposed to the haphazard (lukewarm) characterizes piety.
The world and life are one. (5.621)
Aim at being loved without being admired.
A religious symbol does not rest on any opinion. And error belongs only with opinion. One would like to say: This is what took place here; laugh, if you can.
Religion is, as it were, the calm bottom of the sea at its deepest point, which remains calm however high the waves on the surface may be.
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.
Your questions refer to words; so I have to talk about words.
You say : The point isn't the word, but its meaning, and you think of the meaning as a thing of the same kind as the word, though also different from the word. Here the word, there the meaning.
Philosophy may in no way interfere with the actual use of language; it can in the end only describe it.
You could attach prices to ideas. Some cost a lot some little. ... And how do you pay for ideas? I believe: with courage.
What makes a subject difficult to understand — if it is significant, important — is not that some special instruction about abstruse things is necessary to understand it. Rather it is the contrast between the understanding of the subject and what most people want to see. Because of this the very things that are most obvious can become the most difficult to understand. What has to be overcome is not difficulty of the intellect but of the will.
Every explanation is after all an hypothesis.
It is clear that the causal nexus is not a nexus at all.
For remember that in general we don't use language according to strict rules — it hasn't been taught us by means of strict rules, either.
A pupil and a teacher. The pupil will not let anything be explained to him, for he continually interrupts with doubts, for instance as to the existence of things, the meaning for words, etc. The teacher says "Stop interrupting me and do as I tell you. So far your doubts don't make sense at all."
I did not get my picture of the world by satisfying myself of its correctness; nor do I have it because I am satisfied of its correctness. No: it is the inherited background against which I distinguish between true and false.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
Frazer's account of the magical and religious views of mankind is unsatisfactory; it makes these views look like errors.