--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In other words, the man who is born into…" description: "\"In other words, the man who is born into existence deals first with language; this is a given. He is even caught in it before his birth.\" — Jacques Lacan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/jacques-lacan-11942_birth_in-other-words-the-man-who-is-born-into_2726779.jpg" --- # In other words, the man who is born into existence deals… ![“In other words, the man who is born into existence deals first with language; this is a given. He is even caught in it before his birth.” quote by Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/jacques-lacan-11942_birth_in-other-words-the-man-who-is-born-into_2726779.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/jacques-lacan-11942_birth_in-other-words-the-man-who-is-born-into_2726779.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/jacques-lacan-11942_birth_in-other-words-the-man-who-is-born-into_2726779.jpg) > “In other words, the man who is born into existence deals first with language; this is a given. He is even caught in it before his birth.” [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language shapes identity from birth; it pre‑exists and frames human experience before conscious thought. **In simple terms:** Language defines us early. Key Takeaway Recognize language's influence. Themes language identity psychology development Mood analytical introspective Type theoretical psychological When to use this quote - therapy - education - communication - self‑analysis Key Concepts structuralism symbolic order subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How does language limit thought? - Can we transcend linguistic boundaries? A Different Perspective Language can also constrain expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [We are born, so to speak, twice over; born into existence, and born into life; born a human being, and born a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/we-are-born-so-to-speak-twice-over-born-into-existence-and-born-into/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Every time a value is born, existence takes on a new meaning; every time one dies, some part of that meaning passes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/every-time-a-value-is-born-existence-takes-on-a-new-meaning-every/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [“When you master a language, you are given the key to a castle. What you’ll find inside depends on you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-shafak/when-you-master-a-language-you-are-given-the-key-to-a-castle-what-you/) [Elif Shafak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-shafak/) > [I think kids are excited by language, and they're not always given credit for that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-tobin-anderson/i-think-kids-are-excited-by-language-and-they-re-not-always-given/) [Matthew Tobin Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-tobin-anderson/) > [Language was not given to man: he seized it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/language-was-not-given-to-man-he-seized-it/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [One of the series I like is D.M. Cornish's 'Monster Blood Tattoo,' in which he creates a whole language. Kids who are reading that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-tobin-anderson/one-of-the-series-i-like-is-d-m-cornish-s-monster-blood-tattoo-in/) [Matthew Tobin Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-tobin-anderson/) > [The best thing for a man to do is to be born and, being born, to die at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-aretino/the-best-thing-for-a-man-to-do-is-to-be-born-and-being-born-to-die-at/) [Pietro Aretino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-aretino/) > [“Human language can only work in broad categories. We create words for things, even though words have a danger of confining things. People will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-damian/human-language-can-only-work-in-broad-categories-we-create-words-for/) Chris Damian > [“There comes a time in a man's life when he hears the call of the sea. "Hey, YOU!" are the sea's exact words. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/there-comes-a-time-in-a-man-s-life-when-he-hears-the-call-of-the-sea/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“Wait for the right, honest words from the man you’re interested in before jumping conclusions. Unless he tells you he loves you, he doesn’t.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-d-chong/wait-for-the-right-honest-words-from-the-man-you-re-interested-in/) Grace D. Chong > [The three most destructive words that every man receives when he's a boy is when he's told to 'be a man'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-ehrmann/the-three-most-destructive-words-that-every-man-receives-when-he-s-a/) [Joe Ehrmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-ehrmann/) > [Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality. I have been for many years a teacher of languages. It is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/words-as-is-well-known-are-the-great-foes-of-reality-i-have-been-for/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The 2 smartest words any man can say: Yes, dear!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/the-2-smartest-words-any-man-can-say-yes-dear/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Words may show a man's wit, actions his meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/words-may-show-a-man-s-wit-actions-his-meaning/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“I don’t know you either for that matter. So maybe I shouldn’t trust the words of a man who only recently decided to stitch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-spencer/i-don-t-know-you-either-for-that-matter-so-maybe-i-shouldn-t-trust/) [Kimberly Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-spencer/) ## More by Jacques Lacan > [The narration, in fact, doubles the drama with a commentary without which no mise en scene would be possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-narration-in-fact-doubles-the-drama-with-a-commentary-without/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Symptoms, those you believe you recognize, seem to you irrational because you take them in an isolated manner, and you want to interpret them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/symptoms-those-you-believe-you-recognize-seem-to-you-irrational/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Writings scatter to the winds blank checks in an insane charge. And were they not such flying leaves, there would be no purloined letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/writings-scatter-to-the-winds-blank-checks-in-an-insane-charge-and/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Love means giving something you don't have to someone who doesn't want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/love-means-giving-something-you-don-t-have-to-someone-who-doesn-t/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [For the signifier is a unit in its very uniqueness, being by nature symbol only of an absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/for-the-signifier-is-a-unit-in-its-very-uniqueness-being-by-nature/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [My thesis is that the moral law is articulated with relation to the real as such, to the real insofar as it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/my-thesis-is-that-the-moral-law-is-articulated-with-relation-to-the/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The best image to sum up the unconscious is Baltimore in the early morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-best-image-to-sum-up-the-unconscious-is-baltimore-in-the-early/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Meaning is produced not only by the relationship between the signifier and the signified but also, crucially, by the position of the signifiers in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/meaning-is-produced-not-only-by-the-relationship-between-the/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [“Il n'y a pas de rapport sexuel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/il-n-y-a-pas-de-rapport-sexuel/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [I always speak the truth. Not the whole truth, because there's no way, to say it all. Saying it all is literally impossible: words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/i-always-speak-the-truth-not-the-whole-truth-because-there-s-no-way/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [But this emphasis would be lavished in vain, if it served, in your opinion, only to abstract a general type from phenomena whose particularity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/but-this-emphasis-would-be-lavished-in-vain-if-it-served-in-your/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself in it like an object. What is realised in my history is not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-by-losing-myself-in-it-like-an/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The evil eye is the fascinum, it is that which has the effect of arresting movement and, literally, of killing life. At the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-evil-eye-is-the-fascinum-it-is-that-which-has-the-effect-of/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that, like other objects, it must be or not be in a particular place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloined-letter-that-like-other/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The reason we go to poetry is not for wisdom, but for the dismantling of wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-reason-we-go-to-poetry-is-not-for-wisdom-but-for-the-dismantling/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) [Explore all 49 Jacques Lacan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## More Birth quotes > [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974 > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. 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It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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