Umberto Eco Quotes

A collection of quotes by Umberto Eco.

Umberto Eco was an Italian novelist, philosopher, literary critic, and semiotician. He was born on January 5, 1932, in Alessandria, Italy, and passed away on February 19, 2016, in Milan. Eco gained worldwide recognition for his novel "The Name of the Rose," published in 1980, which combined historical fiction, murder mystery, and semiotic theory. The book became an international bestseller and was later adapted into a successful film.

Eco's academic career was equally illustrious. He taught at several universities, including the University of Bologna, where he was appointed Professor of Semiotics. He was widely regarded as one of the leading scholars in the field of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols and their interpretation.

Throughout his life, Eco published numerous influential works on semiotics, aesthetics, literary theory, and cultural studies. His writings often explored the complex relationship between fiction and reality, examining subjects such as the nature of interpretation, the power of signs, and the construction of meaning.

Umberto Eco's intellectual contributions bridged the gap between the scholarly world and mainstream literature, making semiotics accessible to a wider readership. His extensive body of work continues to inspire and influence academics, writers, and readers around the globe, solidifying his reputation as one of the most significant and versatile thinkers of the 20th century.

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.

AtÃ¢t de mare e puterea adev?rului care, precum binele, se r

AtÃ¢t de mare e puterea adev?rului care, precum binele, se r?spÃ¢nde?te de la sine.

The comic is the perception of the opposite; humor is the fe

The comic is the perception of the opposite; humor is the feeling of it.

Thus we have on stage two men, each of whom knows nothing of

Thus we have on stage two men, each of whom knows nothing of what he believes the other knows, and to deceive each other reciprocally both speak in allusions, each of the two hoping (in vain) that the other holds the key to his puzzle.

Truth Knowledge Games Deception

The Devil is not the Prince of Matter; the Devil is the arro

The Devil is not the Prince of Matter; the Devil is the arrogance of the spirit, faith without smile, truth that is never seized by doubt. The Devil is grim because he knows where he is going, and, in moving, he always returns whence he came.

Truth Faith Doubt

Semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything

Semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth: it cannot in fact be used to tell at all.

Truth Discipline Order Principles Studying

I did not know then what Brother William was seeking, and to

I did not know then what Brother William was seeking, and to tell the truth, I still do not know today, and I presume he himself did not know, moved as he was solely by the desire for truth, and by the suspicion - which I could see he always harbored - that the truth was not what was appearing to him at any given moment.

Truth Suspicion Seeking

You are always born under the wrong sign, and to live in thi

You are always born under the wrong sign, and to live in this world properly you have to rewrite your own horoscope day by day.

Inspirational Wisdom Inspirational

After so many years even the fire of passion dies, and with

After so many years even the fire of passion dies, and with it what was believed the light of the truth. Who of us is able to say now whether Hector or Achilles was right, Agamemnon or Priam, when they fought over the beauty of a woman who is now dust and ashes?

Truth War Beauty Past Right Passion Passage Of Time Mythology Justification Homer Iliad Troy

Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make peo

Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.

Truth Love People

the first quality of an honest man is contempt for religion,

the first quality of an honest man is contempt for religion, which would have us afraid of the most natural thing in the world, which is death; and would have us hate the one beautiful thing destiny has given us, which is life.

Life Death Beauty Religion Irreligion

I've always said that I learned the English I know through t

I've always said that I learned the English I know through two sources -- Marvel Comics and Finnegans Wake.

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers te

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us.

The real hero is always a hero by mistake he dreams of being

The real hero is always a hero by mistake he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.

We have a limit, a very discouraging, humiliating limit: dea

We have a limit, a very discouraging, humiliating limit: death.

A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, i

A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements and clumsy hands. so the librarian protects the books not only against mankind but also against nature and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivion.

Translation is the art of failure.

Translation is the art of failure.

In the United States there's a Puritan ethic and a mythology

In the United States there's a Puritan ethic and a mythology of success. He who is successful is good. In Latin countries, in Catholic countries, a successful person is a sinner.

There is only one thing that arouses animals more than pleas

There is only one thing that arouses animals more than pleasure, and that is pain. Under torture you are as if under the dominion of those grasses that produce visions. Everything you have heard told, everything you have read returns to your mind, as if you were being transported, not toward heaven, but toward hell. Under torture you say not only what the inquisitor wants, but also what you imagine might please him, because a bond (this, truly, diabolical) is established between you and him.

The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up

The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb.