“But if you say: "How am I to know what he means, when I see nothing but the signs he gives?" then I say: "How is he to know what he means, when he has nothing but the signs either?"”

— Ludwig Wittgenstein, book Philosophical Investigations

§ 504
Philosophical Investigations (1953)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "But if you say: "How am I to know what he means, when I see nothing but the signs he gives?" then I say: "How is he to …" by Ludwig Wittgenstein?

Ludwig Wittgenstein228

Austrian-British philosopher 1889–1951

Related quotes

“If the last to know he’s an addict is the addict, then maybe the last to know when a man means what he says is the man himself, he reflected.”

Philip K. Dick book A Scanner Darkly

Source: A Scanner Darkly

“A Frenchman must be always talking, whether he knows anything of the matter or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing, when he has nothing to say.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

1780, p. 446
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol IV

“A man's life is interesting primarily when he has failed — I well know. For it's a sign that he tried to surpass himself.”

Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French politician

Conversation with Jean Martet (1 June 1928), Ch. 30
Clemenceau, The Events of His Life (1930)

“Every morning Nancy and I turn to see what he has to say about people of our respective birth signs.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

Regarding his friend Hollywood astrologer Carroll Righter, in Where's the Rest of Me? (1965)
1960s

“A warrior acts as if he knows what he is doing, when in effect he knows nothing.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Journey to Ixtlan" (Chapter 8)

“I get very disturbed when I see people demonstrating with signs that say "Welfare Rights." There is nothing in the Constitution that says you have a right to welfare! Do you know what welfare is? It's taking money from someone who is working to give to someone who's not!”

Jesse Ventura (1951) American politician and former professional wrestler

I Ain't Got Time To Bleed (1999)

“Business as usual is over. And I think what I mean by that is that you know, the President-elect looks at this and says what’s best for the country? How do we put America and Americans first and stop trying to figure out how we cater to you know, pundits and the establishment class, big donors. He is putting Americans first and foremost. And when he talks about Americans first, he means I don’t care what a bunch of elites tell me or people at a dinner party. He wants to know what American workers care about, what American families care about, what’s going to help American businesses grow.”

Sean Spicer (1971) American political strategist and former White House Press Secretary and Communications Director for President…

Incoming Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer on the Media: ‘Business as Usual Is Over’ http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/12/29/incoming-trump-press-secretary-sean-spicer-on-the-media-business-as-usual-is-over/ (December 29, 2016)