A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language perceptions can be misleading when shaped by personal interpretations rather than objective truths.
Ferdinand De Saussure highlights the idea that individuals often create their own understandings of language that may diverge significantly from its actual nature. This suggests that without a shared framework or understanding, personal interpretations can lead to misconceptions, emphasizing the importance of studying language systematically to grasp its true essence.
Themes
LanguagePerceptionTruthCommunicationUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a classroom setting to discuss the complexities of language acquisition.
More from Ferdinand De Saussure
All quotes βLinguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one branch of languages or another.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will involve the same psychology as is applicable in the case of languages.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Similar quotes
If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm all criminals, and let them accidentally shoot themselves? Is this absurd? Yes, and yet the government, of course, is arming criminals.
David MametRead
The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce. You can't weigh the soul of a man with a bar of pig-iron.
SamuelRead
We cannot reason ourselves out of our basic irrationality. All we can do is to learn the art of being irrational in a reasonable way.
Aldous HuxleyRead
When a man was hurt you took him to the maester, but what could you do when your maester was hurt?
George R. R. MartinRead
Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude.
Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyRead
The most important problems we face are complex, and require sustained attention. But we don't speak in terms of nuance or complexity. Is that by accident? It's because our minds have been entrained to expect shorter and shorter bite-sized bits.
Tristan HarrisRead