Quotes from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Ludwig Wittgenstein ·  142 pages

Rating: (13.2K votes)


“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“For an answer which cannot be expressed the question too cannot be expressed.

The riddle does not exist.

If a question can be put at all, then it can also be answered.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Language disguises the thought; so that from the external form of the clothes one cannot infer the form of the thought they clothe, because the external form of the clothes is constructed with quite another object than to let the form of the body be recognized.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus



“Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“I give no sources, because it is indifferent to me
whether what I have thought has already been
thought before me by another.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“The temporal immortality of the soul of man, that is to say, its eternal survival also after death, is not only in no way guaranteed, but this assumption in the first place will not do for us what we always tried to make it do. Is a riddle solved by the fact that I survive forever? Is this eternal life not as enigmatic as our present one? The solution of the riddle of life in space and time lies outside space and time.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Belief in the causal nexus is superstition.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus



“A tautology's truth is certain, a proposition's possible, a contradiction's impossible.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“6.4311
Der Tod ist kein Ereignis des Lebens. Den Tod erlebt man nicht.
Wenn man unter Ewigkeit nicht unendliche Zeitdauer, sondern Unzeitlichkeit versteht, dann lebt der ewig, der in der Gegenwart lebt.
Unser Leben ist ebenso endlos, wie unser Gesichtsfeld grenzenlos ist.


6.4311
Death is not an event of life. Death is not lived through.
If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.
Our life is endless in the way that our visual field is without limit.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Der Zweck der Philosophie ist die logische Klärung der Gedanken.
Die Philosophie ist keine Lehre, sondern eine Tätigkeit.
Ein philosophisches Werk besteht wesentlich aus Erläuterungen.
Das Resultat der Philosophie sind nicht »philosophische Sätze«, sondern das Klarwerden von Sätzen.
Die Philosophie soll die Gedanken, die sonst, gleichsam, trübe und verschwommen sind, klar machen und scharf abgrenzen.

4.112
The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts.
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.
A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations.
The result of philosophy is not a number of "philosophical propositions", but to make propositions clear.
Philosophy should make clear and delimit sharply the thoughts which otherwise are, as it were, opaque and blurred.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“In the world everything is as it is and happens as it does happen. In it, there is no value, - and if there were, it would be of no value.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“It is not humanly possible to gather immediately from it what the logic of language is. Language disguises thought.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus



“Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Most of the propositions and questions to be found in philosophical works are not false but nonsensical.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Our life is endless in the way that our visual field is without limit.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“There can never be surprises in logic.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“All numbers in logic must be capable of justification.   Or rather it must become plain that there are no numbers in logic.   There are no pre-eminent numbers.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus



“Roughly speaking: to say of two things that they are identical is nonsense, and to say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothing.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“The agreement or disagreement or its sense with reality constitutes its truth or falsity.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“A logical picture of facts is a thought.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“5.6 The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
5.61 Logic fills the world: the limits of the world are also its limits.
We cannot therefore say in logic: This and this there is in the world, that there is not.
For that would apparently presuppose that we exclude certain possibilities, and this cannot be the case since otherwise logic must get outside the limits of the world : that is, if it could consider these limits from the other side also.
What we cannot think, that we cannot think: we cannot therefore say what we cannot think.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus



“This book will perhaps only be understood by those who have themselves already thought the thoughts which are expressed in it-or similar thoughts. It is therefore not a text-book. Its object would be attained if it afforded pleasure to one who read it with understanding.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


“Most propositions and questions, that have been written about philosophical matters, are not false, but senseless. ... (They are of the same kind as the question whether the Good is more or less identical than the Beautiful.)”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, quote from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus


About the author

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Born place: in Wien (Vienna), Austria
Born date April 26, 1889
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“You know what I like about New York?” he said. “There are so many weird people that nobody takes any notice. We all just fit right in.”
― Graeme Simsion, quote from The Rosie Project


“And sometimes,” she added, in slightly hushed tones, like she was letting me in on a secret, “if you don’t feel great on the inside, just look great on the outside, and after a while you won’t be able to tell the difference.” (Bronwyn)”
― Morgan Matson, quote from Amy & Roger's Epic Detour


“Your ability to remain alive never ceases to amaze me.”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from Magic Burns


“Then you go ahead and cry, " Will said.

That ended my weeping. Had he asked me not to cry, I would not have been able to stop, but his permission somehow quit my tears.”
― Kathleen Grissom, quote from The Kitchen House


“The ruby is meant to represent a drop of blood. It is the symbolic representation of the way of the primary edict. It means only one thing and everything. Cut. Once committed to the fight, cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut. The lines are a portrayal of the dance. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut the enemy as quickly and directly as possible. Cut with certainty. Cut decisively, resolutely. Cut into his strength. Flow through the gap in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don’t allow him a breath. Crush him. Cut him without mercy to the depths of his spirit. It’s the balance of life: death. It is the dance with death.”
― Terry Goodkind, quote from Faith of the Fallen


Interesting books

The Art of Fielding
(93K)
The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach
The Elephant Tree
(15.6K)
The Mighty Storm
(65.6K)
The Mighty Storm
by Samantha Towle
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
(17.3K)
Fear and Loathing on...
by Hunter S. Thompson
The Paul Street Boys
(7.6K)
The Paul Street Boys
by Ferenc Molnár
The Sea Wolf
(20.6K)
The Sea Wolf
by Jack London

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.