--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Categories are gibberish to me. I…" description: "\"Categories are gibberish to me. I understand - it helps people organize their thoughts. But you can't go too far with it.\" — Fiona Apple" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/fiona-apple-1912_categories_categories-are-gibberish-to-me-i-underst_881591.png" --- # Categories are gibberish to me. I understand - it helps… ![“Categories are gibberish to me. I understand - it helps people organize their thoughts. But you can't go too far with it.” quote by Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/fiona-apple-1912_categories_categories-are-gibberish-to-me-i-underst_881591.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/fiona-apple-1912_categories_categories-are-gibberish-to-me-i-underst_881591.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/fiona-apple-1912_categories_categories-are-gibberish-to-me-i-underst_881591.png) > “Categories are gibberish to me. I understand - it helps people organize their thoughts. But you can't go too far with it.” [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Acknowledges that categories help organize thoughts but warns against over‑categorization. **In simple terms:** Categories help organize but can be overused. Key Takeaway Use categories wisely, avoid excess. Themes organization cognition balance Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic research - personal productivity - creative work Key Concepts taxonomy mental models simplicity Questions to Reflect On - When do categories become restrictive? - How can we stay flexible? A Different Perspective Over‑categorizing may limit creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Mostly I make lists for projects. This can be daunting. 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I can read something and tell you everything that's wrong with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-pollan/i-m-not-a-writer-but-i-m-very-good-at-editing-that-s-my-specialty-i/) [Tracy Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-pollan/) > [I have different routines for different types of chaos. When I find myself swamped with work and surrounded by people, I try to carve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-schull/i-have-different-routines-for-different-types-of-chaos-when-i-find/) [Amanda Schull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-schull/) > [Whether you're a newspaper journalist, a lawyer, a doctor. You have to organize your thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-wiseman/whether-you-re-a-newspaper-journalist-a-lawyer-a-doctor-you-have-to/) [Frederick Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-wiseman/) > [I don't believe in landing on one genre. That's too limiting. I don't think about that when I'm writing and recording. 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I have a gibberish language that you'd have to decipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-miner/i-ve-got-many-different-voices-i-have-a-southern-girl-an-irish-girl-i/) [Rachel Miner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-miner/) > [“Great and pure thoughts cannot be deposited in minds accumulated with rubbish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/great-and-pure-thoughts-cannot-be-deposited-in-minds-accumulated-with/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“English isn’t my first language—gibberish is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/english-isn-t-my-first-language-gibberish-is/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [ I just sit there and make up songs and sing to \[my son\] in gibberish. I'm very good at gibberish now. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elton-john/i-just-sit-there-and-make-up-songs-and-sing-to-my-son-in-gibberish-i/) [Elton John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elton-john/) > [“His gibberish sounds intellectual enough to make some people feel like agreeing with him makes them look smart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-j-ethridge/his-gibberish-sounds-intellectual-enough-to-make-some-people-feel/) [Aaron J. Ethridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-j-ethridge/) > [“If you say something over and over again, it begins to lose it's meaning... Say anything enough times and it becomes gibberish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-you-say-something-over-and-over-again-it-begins-to-lose-it-s/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## More by Fiona Apple > [Everybody acts like I'm nuts. I'm not nuts I just want to feel it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/everybody-acts-like-i-m-nuts-i-m-not-nuts-i-just-want-to-feel-it-all/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [“Go with yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/go-with-yourself/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Nothing that you do will ever feel good if you let people convince you that you have no choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/nothing-that-you-do-will-ever-feel-good-if-you-let-people-convince/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [I got a lot of problems, but I'm really good at intuiting what I need to do to be happy with whatever I create.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-got-a-lot-of-problems-but-i-m-really-good-at-intuiting-what-i-need/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [I got into therapy in the fifth grade because I said in a sarcastic way that I was going to kill myself, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-got-into-therapy-in-the-fifth-grade-because-i-said-in-a-sarcastic/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [I didn't want to be precious about things. Of course, the idea is to make great music, but if you have great musicians up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-didn-t-want-to-be-precious-about-things-of-course-the-idea-is-to/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Through the media, we've establishes this standard of what every human being should look up to: somebody who always looks right; who always has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/through-the-media-we-ve-establishes-this-standard-of-what-every-human/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [My derring-do allows me to dance the rigadoon around you but by the time I'm close to you I lose my desideratum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/my-derring-do-allows-me-to-dance-the-rigadoon-around-you-but-by-the/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Home is where my habits have a habitat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/home-is-where-my-habits-have-a-habitat/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [If I have one success in my relationship history, it's with the people who listen to my music. I think that they'll be there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/if-i-have-one-success-in-my-relationship-history-it-s-with-the-people/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [I wasn't very ambitious as a child. I'm still not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-wasn-t-very-ambitious-as-a-child-i-m-still-not/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [The worst pain in the world is shame. I spend a lot of time trying to not do anything bad to anyone, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/the-worst-pain-in-the-world-is-shame-i-spend-a-lot-of-time-trying-to/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/hunger-hurts-but-starving-works-when-it-costs-too-much-to-love/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [He goes along just as a water lily Gentle on the surface of his thoughts his body floats Unweighed down by passion or intensity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/he-goes-along-just-as-a-water-lily-gentle-on-the-surface-of-his/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Let me know the way, before there's hell to pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/let-me-know-the-way-before-there-s-hell-to-pay/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) [Explore all 199 Fiona Apple quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) ## More Categories quotes > [...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stigler/the-number-of-saintly-men-has-not-yet-risen-to-the-level-where-the/) [George Stigler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stigler/) > [As a politician - particularly as a politician in a coalition - you quickly realise that compromise is a part of the game. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-davey/as-a-politician-particularly-as-a-politician-in-a-coalition-you/) [Edward Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-davey/) > [I've worked with jazz artists, country artists, classical artists, pop artists. I never wanted there to be categories, because when I was a kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/i-ve-worked-with-jazz-artists-country-artists-classical-artists-pop/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) > [ I don't think in national categories. For me it \[policy\] is about concepts and substance. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/i-don-t-think-in-national-categories-for-me-it-policy-is-about/) [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/we-don-t-need-to-complicate-all-the-reasons-behind-our-emotions-it-s/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I put the truth out there, I put the historical facts into Hip Hop to show us how much history repeats itself and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immortal-technique/i-put-the-truth-out-there-i-put-the-historical-facts-into-hip-hop-to/) [Immortal Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immortal-technique/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) Martin A. Siegel > [A top World War II ace once said that fighter pilots fall into two broad categories: those who go out to kill and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-top-world-war-ii-ace-once-said-that-fighter-pilots-fall-into-two/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No, I don't like legend. I mean, I don't like the category. And to begin with, to me, a legend is something that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-bacall/no-i-don-t-like-legend-i-mean-i-don-t-like-the-category-and-to-begin/) [Lauren Bacall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-bacall/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. 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