--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To define is to limit, to set boundaries…" description: "\"To define is to limit, to set boundaries, to compare and to contrast, and for this reason, the universe, the all, seems to defy definition…Just as no o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/alan-watts-587_boundaries_to-define-is-to-limit-to-set-boundaries_438662.jpg" --- # To define is to limit, to set boundaries, to compare and… ![“To define is to limit, to set boundaries, to compare and to contrast, and for this reason, the universe, the all, seems to defy definition…Just as no one in his senses would look for the morning news in a dictionary, no one should use speaking and thinking to find out what cannot be spoken or…” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/alan-watts-587_boundaries_to-define-is-to-limit-to-set-boundaries_438662.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/alan-watts-587_boundaries_to-define-is-to-limit-to-set-boundaries_438662.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/alan-watts-587_boundaries_to-define-is-to-limit-to-set-boundaries_438662.jpg) > “To define is to limit, to set boundaries, to compare and to contrast, and for this reason, the universe, the all, seems to defy definition…Just as no one in his senses would look for the morning news in a dictionary, no one should use speaking and thinking to find out what cannot be spoken or thought.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Defining things imposes limits and boundaries, which cannot capture the infinite nature of reality; language cannot express what is beyond thought. **In simple terms:** Definitions limit and language cannot express the infinite. Key Takeaway Accept mystery beyond words. Themes philosophy language mystery Mood contemplative enigmatic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - spiritual practice - creative writing - scientific inquiry - personal reflection Key Concepts impermanence nonduality limits Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience what cannot be spoken? - When do you rely on intuition over analysis? A Different Perspective Words cannot fully describe the ineffable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionary/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Set Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/set-boundaries/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [To define yourself is to limit yourself. Without labels you remain the infinite being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/to-define-yourself-is-to-limit-yourself-without-labels-you-remain-the/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“What are you?" "To define is to limit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/what-are-you-to-define-is-to-limit/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Whenever you define who you are, you limit yourself to what you may potentially be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-smart/whenever-you-define-who-you-are-you-limit-yourself-to-what-you-may/) [Ralph Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-smart/) > [To define is to limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-define-is-to-limit/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“How often does it occur that information provided you on morning radio or television, or in the morning newspaper, causes you to alter your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/how-often-does-it-occur-that-information-provided-you-on-morning/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Every new morning is new moment in time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-new-morning-is-new-moment-in-time/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“The missing comes in waves, some more intense than others. 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It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Boundaries quotes > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. 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People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I never go anywhere or do anything that transports me outside the boundaries of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-never-go-anywhere-or-do-anything-that-transports-me-outside-the/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [As a kid, in the Runaways, I would see the interviewers start to ask about our personal lives and what we did — and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-jett/as-a-kid-in-the-runaways-i-would-see-the-interviewers-start-to-ask/) [Joan Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-jett/) > [Understanding science and pushing the boundaries of science is what makes me immensely satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/understanding-science-and-pushing-the-boundaries-of-science-is-what/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-yehoshua/the-question-of-boundaries-is-a-major-question-of-the-jewish-people/) [A. B. 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