---
title: "1 Indo European Quotes By Ferdinand de Saussure"
description: "1 Indo European quotes by Ferdinand de Saussure. Plus more from Ferdinand de Saussure and more Indo European sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/ferdinand-de-saussure-19549_compare_in-fact-from-then-on-scholars-engaged-in_2150232.jpg"
---

> [In fact, from then on scholars engaged in a kind of game of comparing different Indo-European languages with one another, and eventually they could not fail to wonder what exactly these connections showed, and how they should be interpreted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/in-fact-from-then-on-scholars-engaged-in-a-kind-of-game-of-comparing/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c24/ferdinand-de-saussure-19549_compare_in-fact-from-then-on-scholars-engaged-in_2150232.jpg)

## More by Ferdinand de Saussure

> [Nearly all institutions, it might be said, are based on signs, but these signs do not directly evoke things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/nearly-all-institutions-it-might-be-said-are-based-on-signs-but-these/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [In general, the philological movement opened up countless sources relevant to linguistic issues, treating them in quite a different spirit from traditional grammar; for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/in-general-the-philological-movement-opened-up-countless-sources/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [The ultimate law of language is, dare we say, that nothing can ever reside in a single term. This is a direct consequence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/the-ultimate-law-of-language-is-dare-we-say-that-nothing-can-ever/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [It is useful to the historian, among others, to be able to see the commonest forms of different phenomena, whether phonetic, morphological or other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/it-is-useful-to-the-historian-among-others-to-be-able-to-see-the/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [It is only since linguistics has become more aware of its object of study, i.e. perceives the whole extent of it, that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/it-is-only-since-linguistics-has-become-more-aware-of-its-object-of/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [A language presupposes that all the individual users possess the organs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/a-language-presupposes-that-all-the-individual-users-possess-the/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Of all social institutions language is least amenable to initiative. It blends with the life of society, and the latter, inert by nature, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/of-all-social-institutions-language-is-least-amenable-to-initiative/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [The business, task or object of the scientific study of languages will if possible be 1) to trace the history of all known languages.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/the-business-task-or-object-of-the-scientific-study-of-languages-will/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [The first of these phases is that of grammar, invented by the Greeks and carried on unchanged by the French. It never had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/the-first-of-these-phases-is-that-of-grammar-invented-by-the-greeks/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/written-forms-obscure-our-view-of-language-they-are-not-so-much-a/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/everyone-left-to-his-own-devices-forms-an-idea-about-what-goes-on-in/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/time-changes-all-things-there-is-no-reason-why-language-should-escape/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Linguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/linguistics-will-have-to-recognise-laws-operating-universally-in/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/without-language-thought-is-a-vague-uncharted-nebula/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

> [I’m almost never serious, and I’m always too serious. Too deep, too shallow. Too sensitive, too cold hearted. I’m like a collection of paradoxes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-de-saussure/i-m-almost-never-serious-and-i-m-always-too-serious-too-deep-too/)

[Ferdinand de Saussure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-de-saussure/)

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