--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every sign, linguistic or nonlinguistic…" description: "\"“Every sign, linguistic or nonlinguistic, spoken or written (in the usual sense of this opposition), as a small or large unity, can be cited, put betwe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/jacques-derrida-3948_deconstruction_every-sign-linguistic-or-nonlinguistic-s_2262886.jpg" --- # Every sign, linguistic or nonlinguistic, spoken or written… ![“Every sign, linguistic or nonlinguistic, spoken or written (in the usual sense of this opposition), as a small or large unity, can be cited, put between quotation marks; thereby it can break with every given context, and engender infinitely new contexts in an absolutely nonsaturable fashion. This…” quote by Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/jacques-derrida-3948_deconstruction_every-sign-linguistic-or-nonlinguistic-s_2262886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/jacques-derrida-3948_deconstruction_every-sign-linguistic-or-nonlinguistic-s_2262886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/jacques-derrida-3948_deconstruction_every-sign-linguistic-or-nonlinguistic-s_2262886.jpg) > ““Every sign, linguistic or nonlinguistic, spoken or written (in the usual sense of this opposition), as a small or large unity, can be cited, put between quotation marks; thereby it can break with every given context, and engender infinitely new contexts in an absolutely nonsaturable fashion. This does not suppose that the mark is valid outside its context, but on the contrary that there are only contexts without any center of absolute anchoring. This citationality, duplication, or duplicity, this iterability of the mark is not an accident or anomaly, but is that (normal/abnormal) without which a mark could no longer even have a so-called “normal” functioning. What would a mark be that one could not cite? And whose origin could not be lost on the way?”” [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language signs can be detached from original contexts, creating endless new meanings, showing that meaning is never fixed. **In simple terms:** Signs can be taken out of context to make new meanings. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility in interpretation. Themes language meaning context interpretation Mood intellectual provocative Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - literary analysis - philosophical debate - teaching - writing - art criticism Key Concepts deconstruction iterability citation contextuality Questions to Reflect On - How does detaching signs affect communication? - When does endless reinterpretation become unproductive? A Different Perspective It may lead to relativism, making shared meaning harder to achieve. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anchoring Citationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anchoring-citationality-5214338/) [Citationality Duplication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citationality-duplication-5214339/) [Cited Quotation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cited-quotation-5214337/) [Deconstruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deconstruction/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Quotation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quotation/) [Quotation marks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quotation-marks/) ## Related quotes > [“Let us being again. To take some examples: why should “literature” still designate that which already breaks away from literature—away from what has always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/let-us-being-again-to-take-some-examples-why-should-literature-still/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [ I took ethics classes in college, and it always amazes me how they \[tabloids\] will blatantly say something that I did not say, in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-underwood/i-took-ethics-classes-in-college-and-it-always-amazes-me-how-they/) [Carrie Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-underwood/) > [It is an old error of man to forget to put quotation marks where he borrows from a woman's brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-garlin-spencer/it-is-an-old-error-of-man-to-forget-to-put-quotation-marks-where-he/) [Anna Garlin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-garlin-spencer/) > [Quotation marks quotato marks! Bah!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/quotation-marks-quotato-marks-bah/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Next to the semi-colon, quotation marks seem to be the chief butts of reformatory ardor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/next-to-the-semi-colon-quotation-marks-seem-to-be-the-chief-butts-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [1 - 2 If I see an ending, I can work backward. Arthur Miller In the theater, while you recognized that you were looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/1-2-if-i-see-an-ending-i-can-work-backward-arthur-miller-in-the/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [“I'm sitting opposite you in the bar, waiting for you to uncross your boundaries. I want to rip off your logic and make passionate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-mcdaniel/i-m-sitting-opposite-you-in-the-bar-waiting-for-you-to-uncross-your/) [Jeffrey McDaniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-mcdaniel/) > [Most of all I like "bad" lines, that is those considered bad, in my opinion unjustly, by theory. The reason for the last quotation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bent-larsen/most-of-all-i-like-bad-lines-that-is-those-considered-bad-in-my/) [Bent Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bent-larsen/) > [There is no way you can use the word “reality” without quotation marks around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/there-is-no-way-you-can-use-the-word-reality-without-quotation-marks/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Try scrolling through a regular teenager's Facebook or Instagram posts, everything is captioned with borrowed words or lyrics from songs, without any filters whatsoever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-bachchan-nanda/try-scrolling-through-a-regular-teenager-s-facebook-or-instagram/) [Shweta Bachchan Nanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-bachchan-nanda/) > [“And I promise myself then, in that moment, that I will hold him forever, just like this, until all the pain and torture and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/and-i-promise-myself-then-in-that-moment-that-i-will-hold-him-forever/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“Novels are nice,' my friend said. 'They stop.' He waggled his fingers to make quotation marks in the air. 'They say, 'The End.' Very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gourevitch/novels-are-nice-my-friend-said-they-stop-he-waggled-his-fingers-to/) [Philip Gourevitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gourevitch/) > [“There is no fiercer enemy than a word. A word that can be written down in pages and punctuated by quotation marks and commas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/there-is-no-fiercer-enemy-than-a-word-a-word-that-can-be-written-down/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [We have a queen-size bed and the dog sleeps in the middle. John and I are sort of these little quotation marks on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-ray/we-have-a-queen-size-bed-and-the-dog-sleeps-in-the-middle-john-and-i/) [Rachael Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-ray/) > [Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/avoid-overuse-of-quotation-marks/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) ## More by Jacques Derrida > [“Still less, despite appearances, will it have been a collection of three “essays” whose itinerary it would be time, after the fact, to recognize;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/still-less-despite-appearances-will-it-have-been-a-collection-of/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [Cinema plus Psychoanalysis equals the Science of Ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/cinema-plus-psychoanalysis-equals-the-science-of-ghosts/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [The traditional statement about language is that it is in itself living, and that writing is the dead part of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/the-traditional-statement-about-language-is-that-it-is-in-itself/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [We are all mediators, translators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/we-are-all-mediators-translators/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“... and in the homosexual phase which would follow Eurydice's death ... Orpheus sings no more, he writes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/and-in-the-homosexual-phase-which-would-follow-eurydice-s-death/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [These critics organize and practice in my case a sort of obsessive personality cult which philosophers should know how to question and above all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/these-critics-organize-and-practice-in-my-case-a-sort-of-obsessive/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [Each time this identity announces itself, someone or something cries: Look out for the trap, youre caught. Take off, get free, disengage yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/each-time-this-identity-announces-itself-someone-or-something-cries/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [Within the university... you can study without waiting for any efficient or immediate result. You may search, just for the sake of searching, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/within-the-university-you-can-study-without-waiting-for-any-efficient/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“Here again, the difference between the effective and the virtual, between mourning and its possibility, seems fragile and porous. The anguished apprehension of mourning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/here-again-the-difference-between-the-effective-and-the-virtual/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“The wound can have (should only have) just one proper name. I recognize that I love — you — by this: you leave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/the-wound-can-have-should-only-have-just-one-proper-name-i-recognize/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [Everything is arranged so that it be this way, this is what is called culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/everything-is-arranged-so-that-it-be-this-way-this-is-what-is-called/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [But can one not conceive of a presence, and of a presence to itself of the subject before speech or signs, a presence to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/but-can-one-not-conceive-of-a-presence-and-of-a-presence-to-itself-of/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“It goes without saying that these effects do not suffice to annul the necessity for a “change of terrain.” It also goes without saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/it-goes-without-saying-that-these-effects-do-not-suffice-to-annul-the/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [In philosophy, you have to reckon with the implicit level of an accumulated reserve, and thus with a very great number of relays, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/in-philosophy-you-have-to-reckon-with-the-implicit-level-of-an/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [During the fifteen or twenty years in which I tried - it was not always easy with publishers, newspapers, etc. - to forbid photographs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/during-the-fifteen-or-twenty-years-in-which-i-tried-it-was-not-always/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) [Explore all 118 Jacques Derrida quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) ## More Deconstruction quotes > [ I'm telling you, I could teach at a university, \[George\] Carlin, a whole semester. The construction and deconstruction of the words, the language, the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-m-telling-you-i-could-teach-at-a-university-george-carlin-a-whole/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [I'm not against asking the audience to work, but I think what you have now is a sort of gratuitous deconstruction as a result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-miller/i-m-not-against-asking-the-audience-to-work-but-i-think-what-you-have/) [Jonathan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-miller/) > [“Man may feel like a feeble and powerless pawn, at some moment in his life. This apprehension can come out of the blue, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/man-may-feel-like-a-feeble-and-powerless-pawn-at-some-moment-in-his/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“I guess that’s supposed to be deconstruction’s original program, right? People have been under some sort of metaphysical anesthesia, so you dismantle the metaphysics’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-guess-that-s-supposed-to-be-deconstruction-s-original-program-right/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Still less, despite appearances, will it have been a collection of three “essays” whose itinerary it would be time, after the fact, to recognize;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/still-less-despite-appearances-will-it-have-been-a-collection-of/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“King Kranlin became dizzily aware that day was now indiscernible from night, that selfness was essentially the same as otherness, that all things had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-hackle/king-kranlin-became-dizzily-aware-that-day-was-now-indiscernible-from/) [Douglas Hackle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-hackle/) > [It is comforting that travel should have an architecture, and that it is possible to contribute a few stones to it, although the traveller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-magris/it-is-comforting-that-travel-should-have-an-architecture-and-that-it/) [Claudio Magris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudio-magris/) > [Deconstruction glorifies the critic, humiliates the author, and makes the reader wonder why he bothered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/deconstruction-glorifies-the-critic-humiliates-the-author-and-makes/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [You won't talk to anybody who breaks lyrics down more thoroughly. It's just a complete deconstruction, and when you start to rebuild, nobody has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-connick-jr/you-won-t-talk-to-anybody-who-breaks-lyrics-down-more-thoroughly-it-s/) [Harry Connick, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-connick-jr/) > [“It goes without saying that these effects do not suffice to annul the necessity for a “change of terrain.” It also goes without saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/it-goes-without-saying-that-these-effects-do-not-suffice-to-annul-the/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“An insipid voice message or an incongruent emergence from the “other” world may disrupt our whole thinking system. If we are not able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/an-insipid-voice-message-or-an-incongruent-emergence-from-the-other/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [Oh see, first off you gotta realize - everything for me is a reconstruction or deconstruction. I would actually say deconstruction. 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This does not suppose that the mark is valid outside its context, but on the contrary that there are only contexts without any center of absolute anchoring. This citationality, duplication, or duplicity, this iterability of the mark is not an accident or anomaly, but is that (normal/abnormal) without which a mark could no longer even have a so-called “normal” functioning. What would a mark be that one could not cite? 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