--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Often I am struck in amazement about a…" description: "\"Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly realize that the complete arbitrariness of our language is but a part of the arbitrariness of o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg" --- # Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly… ![“Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly realize that the complete arbitrariness of our language is but a part of the arbitrariness of our own world in general.” quote by Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg) > “Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly realize that the complete arbitrariness of our language is but a part of the arbitrariness of our own world in general.” [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker marvels at the randomness of language, seeing it as a microcosm of the world's inherent arbitrariness. **In simple terms:** Language’s randomness mirrors the world’s randomness. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty in meaning and reality. Themes philosophy language randomness existence metaphor Mood thoughtful intellectual curious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic lecture - creative writing - daily conversation - personal reflection Key Concepts determinism semantic ambiguity cosmic indifference Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape our perception of reality? - Can we find order in randomness? A Different Perspective May seem abstract for practical use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Constantine saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing this inscription: conquer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eusebius/constantine-saw-with-his-own-eyes-the-trophy-of-a-cross-of-light-in/) [Eusebius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eusebius/) > [Know that a word suddenly shot from the tongue is like an arrow shot from the bow. Son, that arrow won't turn back on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/know-that-a-word-suddenly-shot-from-the-tongue-is-like-an-arrow-shot/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“If it had been a heart attack, the newspaper might have used the word massive , as if a mountain range had opened inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-flynn/if-it-had-been-a-heart-attack-the-newspaper-might-have-used-the-word/) [Nick Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-flynn/) > [If it had been a heart attack, the newspapermight have used the word massive,as if a mountain range had openedinside her, but insteadit used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-flynn/if-it-had-been-a-heart-attack-the-newspapermight-have-used-the-word/) [Nick Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-flynn/) > [When you have a 13 year old child, you suddenly realize that you may need to pick a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tesh/when-you-have-a-13-year-old-child-you-suddenly-realize-that-you-may/) [John Tesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tesh/) > [“I suddenly realize that finding my past in pieces has actually brought me closer to my future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-karr/i-suddenly-realize-that-finding-my-past-in-pieces-has-actually/) [Kim Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-karr/) > [He made me suddenly realize that photographs could reach eternity through the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/he-made-me-suddenly-realize-that-photographs-could-reach-eternity/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [That feeling you get when you suddenly realize that you were fighting for nothing all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-suddenly-realize-that-you-were-fighting/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You realize, this is not just a little studio we go to make these television episodes. This thing is reaching everybody in the world!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-farr/you-realize-this-is-not-just-a-little-studio-we-go-to-make-these/) [Jamie Farr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-farr/) > [Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I would break Into blossom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wright/suddenly-i-realize-that-if-i-stepped-out-of-my-body-i-would-break/) [James Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wright/) > [He is so shaggy. People are amazed when he gets up and they suddenly realize they have been talking to the wrong end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jones/he-is-so-shaggy-people-are-amazed-when-he-gets-up-and-they-suddenly/) Elizabeth Jones > [Stop and ask yourself how you've made it this far and you'll suddenly realize you are not alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romany-malco/stop-and-ask-yourself-how-you-ve-made-it-this-far-and-you-ll-suddenly/) [Romany Malco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romany-malco/) > [That time where you like the new kid in your group and you think they like you back, but suddenly you realize it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-faye-me/that-time-where-you-like-the-new-kid-in-your-group-and-you-think-they/) [Gina Faye (me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-faye-me/) > [Turning 60 had an impact on my heart and soul, I must say, because you're dealing with time: past, present, and future. You suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/turning-60-had-an-impact-on-my-heart-and-soul-i-must-say-because-you/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [Sometimes, you think you've gotten over a person, but when you see them smile, you suddenly realize you're just pretending you're over them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-think-you-ve-gotten-over-a-person-but-when-you-see-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Christian Morgenstern > [The hidden child wants to be able to participate and to co-create in art, rather than being simply an admiring viewer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/the-hidden-child-wants-to-be-able-to-participate-and-to-co-create-in/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [You are not at home where your residence are but where you are understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/you-are-not-at-home-where-your-residence-are-but-where-you-are/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [If I did not love what is present, if I could not cling to this enormous, safe parachute, I would long since have fallen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/if-i-did-not-love-what-is-present-if-i-could-not-cling-to-this/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [It is one of the oddest things in the world that you can read a page or more and think of something utterly different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/it-is-one-of-the-oddest-things-in-the-world-that-you-can-read-a-page/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [There are often some hundred times, a thousand times, before you can really see it for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/there-are-often-some-hundred-times-a-thousand-times-before-you-can/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [“That which must not, can not be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/that-which-must-not-can-not-be/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [To me, the term 'middle-class' connotes a safe, comfortable, middle-of-the road policy. Above all, our language is 'middle-class' in the middle of our road.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/to-me-the-term-middle-class-connotes-a-safe-comfortable-middle-of-the/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [Home is not where you live but where they understand you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/home-is-not-where-you-live-but-where-they-understand-you/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [There is a ghost That eats hankerchiefs; It keeps you company On all your travels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/there-is-a-ghost-that-eats-hankerchiefs-it-keeps-you-company-on-all/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [A true artist never portrays to please, but to show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/a-true-artist-never-portrays-to-please-but-to-show/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [Humor is the contemplation of the finite from the point of view of the infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/humor-is-the-contemplation-of-the-finite-from-the-point-of-view-of/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [In every work of art, the artist himself is present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/in-every-work-of-art-the-artist-himself-is-present/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [If modern civilization man had to kill the animals he eats, the number of vegetarians would rise astronomically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/if-modern-civilization-man-had-to-kill-the-animals-he-eats-the-number/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [A poet must have died as a man before he is worth anything as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/a-poet-must-have-died-as-a-man-before-he-is-worth-anything-as-a-poet/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [My method is to find a word with a gesture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/my-method-is-to-find-a-word-with-a-gesture/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) [Explore all 25 Christian Morgenstern quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) ## More Amazement quotes > [We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in." "Yes!" Leo pumped his fist. \*…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/we-started-this-together-leo-seems-only-right-you-come-along-you-find/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [When I got on the set of 'Saving Private Ryan,' I discovered, to my amazement, that Steven Spielberg is a gamer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-diesel/when-i-got-on-the-set-of-saving-private-ryan-i-discovered-to-my/) [Vin Diesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-diesel/) > [With education symmetrical and true we will take the dead mass buried by slavery's hand and touch them to life. This beauteous angel, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-vernon/with-education-symmetrical-and-true-we-will-take-the-dead-mass-buried/) William Tecumseh Vernon > [The very fact that we make such a to-do over golden weddings indicates our amazement at human endurance. The celebration is more in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilka-chase/the-very-fact-that-we-make-such-a-to-do-over-golden-weddings/) [Ilka Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilka-chase/) > [I think it wasn't so much that the White House altered me in any essential way as that I found the resources with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-ford/i-think-it-wasn-t-so-much-that-the-white-house-altered-me-in-any/) [Betty Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-ford/) > [He sees with amazement that our defeats are but the stepping stones to victory and that all his victories are stepping stones to ruin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/he-sees-with-amazement-that-our-defeats-are-but-the-stepping-stones/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Sometime in the last ten years the best brains of the Occident discovered to their amazement that we live in an Environment. This discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/sometime-in-the-last-ten-years-the-best-brains-of-the-occident/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [When one thinks of the wondrous glory of Christ, how astonishing that He can join with us! But more, when one thinks of His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wigram/when-one-thinks-of-the-wondrous-glory-of-christ-how-astonishing-that/) [George Wigram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wigram/) > [Other people's marriages are a perpetual source of amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/other-people-s-marriages-are-a-perpetual-source-of-amazement/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [Adlai Stevenson, himself a notable speaker, often reminisced about his last meeting with Churchill. I asked him on whom or what he had based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bourke-cockran/adlai-stevenson-himself-a-notable-speaker-often-reminisced-about-his/) [William Bourke Cockran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bourke-cockran/) > [I realized a long time ago, with a certain amazement, that no mattter how important something is in your life, no matter how huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/i-realized-a-long-time-ago-with-a-certain-amazement-that-no-mattter/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [Basically, I want to spend my time in retreat, but to my own amazement, I agreed to help with a project to start a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/basically-i-want-to-spend-my-time-in-retreat-but-to-my-own-amazement/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/ten-times-a-day-something-happens-to-me-like-this-some-strengthening/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [DREAM PREDICTION ELITE is the realization of true amazement in your audiences reactions. This is PURE GOLD - A REAL WINNER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banachek/dream-prediction-elite-is-the-realization-of-true-amazement-in-your/) Banachek > [Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/poetry-is-a-language-in-which-man-explores-his-own-amazement/) [Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/) Browse all 241 Amazement quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly realize that the complete arbitrariness of our language is but a part of the arbitrariness of our own world in general.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Morgenstern" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-word-i-suddenly-realize-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amazement" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-word-i-suddenly-realize-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/christian-morgenstern-21137_amazement_often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-w_829461.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Often I am struck in amazement about a word: I suddenly realize that the complete arbitrariness of our…” — Christian Morgenstern", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christian Morgenstern", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Often I am struck in amazement...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-word-i-suddenly-realize-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/often-i-am-struck-in-amazement-about-a-word-i-suddenly-realize-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```