1001Philosophers

Ludwig Wittgenstein Quotes on Nature

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher whose work transformed 20th-century analytic philosophy. This page collects quotes attributed to Ludwig Wittgenstein on the topic of nature, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • “If a lion could speak, we could not understand him.”

    Pt II, p. 223 of the 1968 English edition
  • “It seems to me as good as certain that we cannot get the upper hand against England . The English — the best race in the world — cannot lose! We, however, can lose and shall lose, if not this year then next year. The thought that our race is going to be beaten depresses me terribly, because I am completely German .”

    Writing about the eventual outcome of World War I, in which he was a volunteer in the Austro-Hungarian army (25 October 1914), as quoted in The First World War (2004) by Martin Gilbert , p. 104
  • “Writing about the eventual outcome of World War I, in which he was a volunteer in the Austro-Hungarian army (25 October 1914), as quoted in The First World War (2004) by Martin Gilbert , p. 104”

    It seems to me as good as certain that we cannot get the upper hand against England . The English — the best race in the world — cannot lose! We, however, can lose and shall lose, if not this year then next year. The thought that our race is going to be beaten depresses me terribly, because I am completely German .
  • “I sit astride life like a bad rider on a horse. I only owe it to the horse's good nature that I am not thrown off at this very moment.”

    Culture and Value(1980) | p. 36e
  • “Religion is, as it were, the calm bottom of the sea at its deepest point, which remains calm however high the waves on the surface may be.”

    Culture and Value(1980) | p. 53e