Quote by Harry Mathews

Syntax and vocabulary are overwhelming constraints --the rules that run us. Language is using us to talk --we think we're using the language, but language is doing the thinking, we're its slavish agents.

Syntax and vocabulary are overwhelming constraints --the rul

Summary

This quote suggests that syntax and vocabulary impose significant limitations on us. It implies that language controls and manipulates our thoughts, rather than the other way around. We believe we are using language for communication, but in reality, language is the one shaping our thoughts, making us its obedient servants. The quote emphasizes the power and influence of language over individuals, highlighting its role in determining how we perceive and express ideas.

Topics

Language

By Harry Mathews

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

I fear only God, all praises to Him.

I fear only God, all praises to Him.

Muqtada al Sadr

Fear

The real community of man is the community of those who seek

The real community of man is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers.

Truth Man Community

...it seemed marriage by its very design was meant to seek o

...it seemed marriage by its very design was meant to seek out love and destroy it.

Kelly O'Connor McNees

Love Marriage

Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is

Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.

Miguel de Cervantes

Design

The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that

The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand.

Charles Eastman

Religion

Ignorance makes most men go into a political party, and sham

Ignorance makes most men go into a political party, and shame keeps them from getting out of it.

Edward F. Halifax

Politics

I have traveled a long road from the battlefield to the peac

I have traveled a long road from the battlefield to the peace table.

Peace

I'm a father of four so whenever I'm not working my kids hav

I'm a father of four so whenever I'm not working my kids have their different sports, or plays, or school performances, so I don't do a whole lot of other stuff besides being a dad.

Christopher Judge

Sports

If you want an open society, you have to put up with the cha

If you want an open society, you have to put up with the chaos.

Trouble Troubles

The only certainty about following the crowd is that you wil

The only certainty about following the crowd is that you will all get there together.

People

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficu

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.

Henry Kissinger

Adversity

The weak have one weapon: the errors of those who think they

The weak have one weapon: the errors of those who think they are strong.

Weakness