--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If a symbolic language dies, it tortures…" description: "\"If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a nightmare, like a thousand piece orchestra grating on our nerves and tearing our mind to pieces... I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/asger-jorn-16504_corpses_if-a-symbolic-language-dies-it-tortures_2428873.jpg" --- # If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a… ![“If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a nightmare, like a thousand piece orchestra grating on our nerves and tearing our mind to pieces... It is a corpse with no symbolic power or strength.” quote by Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/asger-jorn-16504_corpses_if-a-symbolic-language-dies-it-tortures_2428873.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/asger-jorn-16504_corpses_if-a-symbolic-language-dies-it-tortures_2428873.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/asger-jorn-16504_corpses_if-a-symbolic-language-dies-it-tortures_2428873.jpg) > “If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a nightmare, like a thousand piece orchestra grating on our nerves and tearing our mind to pieces... It is a corpse with no symbolic power or strength.” [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When symbolic language loses meaning, it becomes a painful, mind‑tearing experience, like a dissonant orchestra. **In simple terms:** Loss of symbolic power feels like mental torment. Key Takeaway Preserve meaningful symbols. Themes art language psychology Mood reflective somber Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - creative writing - art criticism - therapy - education Key Concepts semiotics meaning cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - How do you revive a dying symbol? - What symbols sustain you? A Different Perspective Symbols can become empty if overused or misunderstood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Orchestra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orchestra/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture/) ## Related quotes > [I've become invested with this symbolic power. It really does transcend what I'm actually doing and what I actually deserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/i-ve-become-invested-with-this-symbolic-power-it-really-does/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [If Obama's enormous symbolic power draws primarily from being the country's first black president, it also draws from his membership in hip-hop's foundational generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/if-obama-s-enormous-symbolic-power-draws-primarily-from-being-the/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“The fall of humanity was the fall from the actual to the symbolic. Language abstracts us from the real world; keeping us from direct,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-vigorito/the-fall-of-humanity-was-the-fall-from-the-actual-to-the-symbolic/) [Tony Vigorito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-vigorito/) > [Man's ultimate concern must be expressed symbolically, because symbolic language alone is able to express the ultimate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/man-s-ultimate-concern-must-be-expressed-symbolically-because/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [Purpose of the natural calamities are coming to understand symbolic language except.You are not tutors except some of toys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/purpose-of-the-natural-calamities-are-coming-to-understand-symbolic/) Mak\_786 > [It's like, symbolic language, the way that people approach dense poetry... it always bugs me, because that approach suggests that it's like a mystery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-mercer/it-s-like-symbolic-language-the-way-that-people-approach-dense-poetry/) [Carey Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-mercer/) > [Every time another tribe becomes extinct and their language dies, another way of life and another way of understanding the world disappears forever. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-corry/every-time-another-tribe-becomes-extinct-and-their-language-dies/) Stephen Corry > [“I patch together a living language out of reanimated parts, like Frankenstein, and feel no disgust at scrabbling in the charnel house. Each of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-jackson/i-patch-together-a-living-language-out-of-reanimated-parts-like/) [Shelley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-jackson/) > [when a language dies, a way of understanding the world dies with it, a way of looking at the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-language-dies-a-way-of-understanding-the-world-dies-with-it-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There are nine different words in Maya for the color blue...but just three Spanish translations, leaving six butterflies that can be seen only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-shorris/there-are-nine-different-words-in-maya-for-the-color-blue-but-just/) Earl Shorris > [“Each time a language dies, another flame goes out, another sound goes silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-sabar/each-time-a-language-dies-another-flame-goes-out-another-sound-goes/) [Ariel Sabar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-sabar/) > [Languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. A language dies every 14 days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-ryan/languages-are-dying-at-an-unprecedented-rate-a-language-dies-every-14/) [Patricia Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-ryan/) > [She is convinced that when language dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference and absence of esteem, or killed by fiat, not only she herself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-is-convinced-that-when-language-dies-out-of-carelessness-disuse/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Every two weeks, a language dies. The world is diminished when it loses its human sayings, just as when it loses its diversity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/every-two-weeks-a-language-dies-the-world-is-diminished-when-it-loses/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [The death of a language. The word has the same kind of reluctant resonance as it has when we talk about the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-death-of-a-language-the-word-has-the-same-kind-of-reluctant/) [David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/) ## More by Asger Jorn > [The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-great-work-of-art-is-the-complete-banality-and-the-fault-with/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Being an artist is being an isolated individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/being-an-artist-is-being-an-isolated-individual/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [We are not talking about a new cognition in relation to abstract art, rather a new area of cognition...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/we-are-not-talking-about-a-new-cognition-in-relation-to-abstract-art/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [To break and be able to grow together again in a better way: that is the difficult art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/to-break-and-be-able-to-grow-together-again-in-a-better-way-that-is/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [If the image was sketched onto the canvas and spontaneously drawn, colour would often be restrained and unfree... The most important and the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/if-the-image-was-sketched-onto-the-canvas-and-spontaneously-drawn/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Everything is in constant flux, from state to state, from good to bad and back again…, only in transmutation, perpetual motion, lies truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/everything-is-in-constant-flux-from-state-to-state-from-good-to-bad/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Beautiful, ugly, impressive, disgusting, meaningless, grim, contradictory etc … It makes no difference, as long as it is life, vigorously pouring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/beautiful-ugly-impressive-disgusting-meaningless-grim-contradictory/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [To get anywhere, one must choose one's mistakes. I chose experimental acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/to-get-anywhere-one-must-choose-one-s-mistakes-i-chose-experimental/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Anything really new is repulsive, because it is abnormal and unreasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/anything-really-new-is-repulsive-because-it-is-abnormal-and/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [My work is based on a tradition quite distinct from the Eckersberg tradition, a Nordic line of development that had never been clearly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/my-work-is-based-on-a-tradition-quite-distinct-from-the-eckersberg/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [There can be no question of selecting in any direction, but of penetrating the whole cosmic law of rhythms, forces and material that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/there-can-be-no-question-of-selecting-in-any-direction-but-of/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [We are sparks that must glow as brightly as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/we-are-sparks-that-must-glow-as-brightly-as-possible/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [The reverse process is extremely important to me - that artistic images can inspire to words and different myths, and that in certain cultures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-reverse-process-is-extremely-important-to-me-that-artistic-images/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [In the beginning was the image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/in-the-beginning-was-the-image/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [A creative train of thought is set off by: the unexpected, the unknown, the accidental, the disorderly, the absurd, the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/a-creative-train-of-thought-is-set-off-by-the-unexpected-the-unknown/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) [Explore all 39 Asger Jorn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) ## More Corpses quotes > [My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in spectacular epics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gig-young/my-specialties-are-corpses-unconscious-people-and-people-snoring-in/) Gig Young > [The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/the-enemy-his-sense-of-duty-was-no-less-than-yours-i-deem-you-wonder/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [ Of course I think it's a movie for everybody \[Insane Farting Corpse\], but that's probably just because it's a movie for me. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/of-course-i-think-it-s-a-movie-for-everybody-insane-farting-corpse/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [If you look at the history of technology gadget makers, hardware makers, it's littered with the corpses of Palm and RIM and companies like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-tilson/if-you-look-at-the-history-of-technology-gadget-makers-hardware/) [Whitney Tilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-tilson/) > [“The Path Of Least Resistance Is Littered With The Corpses Of The Bored To Death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-path-of-least-resistance-is-littered-with-the-corpses-of-the/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [ René of Anjou \[(1409-80)\] painted a picture of his mistress's corpse as he found it eaten by worms on having it \[her tomb\] openedon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/ren-of-anjou-1409-80-painted-a-picture-of-his-mistress-s-corpse-as-he/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [Religion exalts mystery as an unknowable secret that must be sealed in glass like the corpse of an enchanted princess and fearfully worshipped from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lon-milo-duquette/religion-exalts-mystery-as-an-unknowable-secret-that-must-be-sealed/) [Lon Milo DuQuette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lon-milo-duquette/) > [Why exactly are we so frightened of death that we avoid looking at it altogether? Somewhere, deep down, we know we cannot avoid facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/why-exactly-are-we-so-frightened-of-death-that-we-avoid-looking-at-it/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [The government increasingly resembles somebody who is trying to give the kiss of life to a corpse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-cable/the-government-increasingly-resembles-somebody-who-is-trying-to-give/) [Vince Cable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-cable/) > [“You and I are victims of the same disease. We're fighting the same war, just different battles in different theaters, and it's way too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/you-and-i-are-victims-of-the-same-disease-we-re-fighting-the-same-war/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [Alas, poor Yorick! How surprised he would be to see how his counterpart of today is whisked off to a funeral parlor and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/alas-poor-yorick-how-surprised-he-would-be-to-see-how-his-counterpart/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [“Yes, and look at the corpses. Place always reminds me of that old thing in Punch, you know—‘Waiter, take away Lord Whatsisname, he’s been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/yes-and-look-at-the-corpses-place-always-reminds-me-of-that-old-thing/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn't work, throw it away. It's a nice feeling, and you don't want to be cluttered with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dunmore/reread-rewrite-reread-rewrite-if-it-still-doesn-t-work-throw-it-away/) [Helen Dunmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dunmore/) > [ Reading the script \[Insane Farting Corpse\], by page two or three, I felt that way. I thought, I'm in. It was so beautiful and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/reading-the-script-insane-farting-corpse-by-page-two-or-three-i-felt/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [Photos are profound because they have such short lives. They are more like fingerprints, dead leaves, rain puddles, or the corpses of flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/photos-are-profound-because-they-have-such-short-lives-they-are-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) Browse all 363 Corpses quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a nightmare, like a thousand piece orchestra grating on our nerves and tearing our mind to pieces... 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