--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Which is why we cannot say of the…" description: "\"Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that, like other objects, it must be or not be in a particular place but that unlike them it will be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/jacques-lacan-11942_cannot_which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloi_793924.jpg" --- # Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that… ![“Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that, like other objects, it must be or not be in a particular place but that unlike them it will be and not be where it is, wherever it goes.” quote by Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/jacques-lacan-11942_cannot_which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloi_793924.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/jacques-lacan-11942_cannot_which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloi_793924.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/jacques-lacan-11942_cannot_which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloi_793924.jpg) > “Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that, like other objects, it must be or not be in a particular place but that unlike them it will be and not be where it is, wherever it goes.” [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. The letter’s existence is defined by its presence and absence, challenging static notions of location and meaning. **In simple terms:** Meaning depends on both presence and absence. Key Takeaway Recognize that meaning can be fluid. Themes language absence presence meaning psychoanalysis Mood analytical thoughtful inquisitive Type theoretical philosophical critical When to use this quote - literary criticism - philosophical debate - interpretive analysis Key Concepts structuralism deconstruction signifier Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean for something to be both present and absent? - How does this affect our understanding of truth? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on location can ignore relational dynamics of meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“You were this bright light. 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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. 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Thus I always say more than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/i-speak-without-knowing-it-i-speak-with-my-body-and-i-do-so/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) [Explore all 49 Jacques Lacan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## More Cannot quotes > [The United States cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of religion. The free exercise of religion is at the very heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/the-united-states-cannot-and-should-not-discriminate-on-the-basis-of/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [The book is not simply the object that one holds in one's hands, and it cannot remain within the little parallelpiped that contains it:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-book-is-not-simply-the-object-that-one-holds-in-one-s-hands-and/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/nothing-is-more-private-than-a-woman-s-body-it-is-her-physical/) [Lewis B. 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To be liberty, rights must be armed with vital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/liberty-does-not-exist-where-rights-are-on-one-side-and-power-on-the/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [The reason I fight is to provide for my family, and I cannot risk having that taken away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whittaker/the-reason-i-fight-is-to-provide-for-my-family-and-i-cannot-risk/) [Robert Whittaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whittaker/) > [We cannot have players who don't give their soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/we-cannot-have-players-who-don-t-give-their-soul/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [I cannot do confrontation. You know that fight or flight thing? I'm flight. 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