--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What lives in words is what words were…" description: "\"What lives in words is what words were needed to learn.\" — Jane Hirshfield" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png" --- # What lives in words is what words were needed to learn. ![“What lives in words is what words were needed to learn.” quote by Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png) > “What lives in words is what words were needed to learn.” [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words carry the knowledge needed to understand them. **In simple terms:** Words hold the knowledge they teach. Key Takeaway Engage deeply with language to learn. Themes language learning knowledge communication mindfulness Mood contemplative educational Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - reading - teaching - personal study - writing Key Concepts linguistics cognitive science education Questions to Reflect On - What word has taught you most? - How do you deepen your understanding of language? A Different Perspective Complex concepts may exceed simple wording. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Lives Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-words-273170/) [Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed/) [Needed Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed-learn-562061/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Words Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-needed-1036339/) [Words Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-words/) ## Related quotes > [“The real me lives in words, not in what words mean.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-real-me-lives-in-words-not-in-what-words-mean/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“There is a writer in each one of us…it's only a matter of time before we put those emotions and experiences of our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-miller/there-is-a-writer-in-each-one-of-us-it-s-only-a-matter-of-time-before/) [Ariana Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-miller/) > [There was no way I was going back to school to study anything for another three or four years. I was done with that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chika-anadu/there-was-no-way-i-was-going-back-to-school-to-study-anything-for/) [Chika Anadu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chika-anadu/) > [I wanted to understand things and then be free of them. I needed to learn how to telescope things, ideas. Things were too big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-wanted-to-understand-things-and-then-be-free-of-them-i-needed-to/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [My mother says that if in our lives and I have no words … you … have never lost, nor the humiliation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/my-mother-says-that-if-in-our-lives-and-i-have-no-words-you-have/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [ “The sounds aren’t where the meaning lives. \[…\] Their language is organised noise, like all of ours are, but for them each word is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/the-sounds-aren-t-where-the-meaning-lives-their-language-is-organised/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/do-not-the-most-moving-moments-of-our-lives-find-us-without-words/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [“I try to decipher if my life lives through my words or if my words become my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-lynette/i-try-to-decipher-if-my-life-lives-through-my-words-or-if-my-words/) [Shannon Lynette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-lynette/) > [It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-in-our-lives-and-not-our-words-that-our-religion-must-be-read/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Philosophy lives in words, but truth and fact well up into our lives in ways that exceed verbal formulation. There is in the living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/philosophy-lives-in-words-but-truth-and-fact-well-up-into-our-lives/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-believe-there-is-power-in-words-power-in-asserting-our-existence/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“just a bunch of words. He needed to feel that force move him from the inside before he could have any faith in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-stutz/just-a-bunch-of-words-he-needed-to-feel-that-force-move-him-from-the/) [Phil Stutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-stutz/) > [“The words were good words, Ulysses felt, maybe even great words, but the list was very incomplete. He was just getting started. The words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/the-words-were-good-words-ulysses-felt-maybe-even-great-words-but-the/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [Prayer is an act of love. Words are not needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/prayer-is-an-act-of-love-words-are-not-needed/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [With you I'm useless with words. As if somehow I had to learn to speak all over again, as if the words I needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/with-you-i-m-useless-with-words-as-if-somehow-i-had-to-learn-to-speak/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) ## More by Jane Hirshfield > [I don't have a cell phone (though for years I've kept saying, "soon").](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-don-t-have-a-cell-phone-though-for-years-i-ve-kept-saying-soon/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [A certain amount of housekeeping also goes on in my poems. I wash doorknobs, do dishes, mop floors, patch carpets, cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/a-certain-amount-of-housekeeping-also-goes-on-in-my-poems-i-wash/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Self carries grief as a pack mule carries the side bags, being careful between the trees to leave extra room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/self-carries-grief-as-a-pack-mule-carries-the-side-bags-being-careful/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/my-job-as-a-human-being-as-well-as-a-writer-is-to-feel-as-thoroughly/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I want to preserve a certain unknowing about my own poems - perhaps because unknowing is in itself a useful poetic thirst. To move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-want-to-preserve-a-certain-unknowing-about-my-own-poems-perhaps/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Habit, laziness, and fear conspire to keep us comfortably within the familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/habit-laziness-and-fear-conspire-to-keep-us-comfortably-within-the/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [In order to gain anything, you must first lose everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/in-order-to-gain-anything-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [The same words come from each mouth differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/the-same-words-come-from-each-mouth-differently/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Metaphors think with the imagination and the senses. The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/metaphors-think-with-the-imagination-and-the-senses-the-hot-chili/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Your fate is to be yourself, both punishment and crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/your-fate-is-to-be-yourself-both-punishment-and-crime/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Near even a candle, the visible heat. So it is with a person in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/near-even-a-candle-the-visible-heat-so-it-is-with-a-person-in-love/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [At some point I realized that you don't get a full human life if you try to cut off one end of it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/at-some-point-i-realized-that-you-don-t-get-a-full-human-life-if-you/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Immensity is always there, but we so often become numb to it, or deceive ourselves into thinking our own lives and selves are what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/immensity-is-always-there-but-we-so-often-become-numb-to-it-or/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) [Explore all 156 Jane Hirshfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. 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Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) [TimBur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timbur/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/) [Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. 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(To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/) [Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/) [Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What lives in words is what words were needed to learn.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Hirshfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-needed-to-learn/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-needed-to-learn/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/jane-hirshfield-2649_language_what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-n_2948186.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What lives in words is what words were needed to learn.” — Jane Hirshfield", "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": "Jane Hirshfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What lives in words is what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-needed-to-learn/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/what-lives-in-words-is-what-words-were-needed-to-learn/#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 } } ] } ```