--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By the way, leafing through my dictionary…" description: "\"“By the way, leafing through my dictionary I am struck by the poverty of language when it comes to naming or describing badness. Evil, wickedness, misc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/john-banville-2532_badness_by-the-way-leafing-through-my-dictionary_1753473.png" --- # By the way, leafing through my dictionary I am struck by… ![“By the way, leafing through my dictionary I am struck by the poverty of language when it comes to naming or describing badness. Evil, wickedness, mischief, these words imply an agency, the conscious or at least active doing of wrong. They do not signify the bad in its inert, neutral…” quote by John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/john-banville-2532_badness_by-the-way-leafing-through-my-dictionary_1753473.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/john-banville-2532_badness_by-the-way-leafing-through-my-dictionary_1753473.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/john-banville-2532_badness_by-the-way-leafing-through-my-dictionary_1753473.png) > ““By the way, leafing through my dictionary I am struck by the poverty of language when it comes to naming or describing badness. Evil, wickedness, mischief, these words imply an agency, the conscious or at least active doing of wrong. They do not signify the bad in its inert, neutral, self-sustaining state. Then there are the adjectives: dreadful, heinous, execrable, vile, and so on. They are not so much as descriptive as judgmental. They carry a weight of censure mingled with fear. Is this not a queer state of affairs? It makes me wonder. I ask myself if perhaps the thing itself - badness - does not exist at all, if these strangely vague and imprecise words are only a kind of ruse, a kind of elaborate cover for the fact that nothing is there. Or perhaps words are an attempt to make it be there? Or, again, perhaps there is something, but the words invented it. Such considerations make me feel dizzy, as if a hole had opened briefly in the world.”” [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote questions how language struggles to capture the concept of badness, suggesting words may create or conceal the idea rather than describe an existing reality. **In simple terms:** Language can’t fully describe badness; words may shape or hide it. Key Takeaway Question how language frames moral concepts. Themes philosophy language ethics metaphysics semantics Mood contemplative curious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic discussion - creative writing - philosophical debate - personal reflection - critical analysis Key Concepts concept of evil linguistic relativity ontological status of badness Questions to Reflect On - Do words shape our perception of morality? - Can we think of badness without language? A Different Perspective The argument may overlook that some moral concepts are intuitively understood regardless of linguistic precision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“It is wise to forsake the evil of wickedness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/it-is-wise-to-forsake-the-evil-of-wickedness/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/is-this-how-you-repay-my-goodness-with-badness-cried-the-boy-of/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-possible-that-the-contemplation-of-cruelty-will-not-make-us/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [When you've been afraid of something for long enough and it comes to pass, the terrible thing is a release. For in the belly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/when-you-ve-been-afraid-of-something-for-long-enough-and-it-comes-to/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The Bible is one long story of God meeting our rebellion with His rescue, our sin with His salvation, our guilt with His grace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/the-bible-is-one-long-story-of-god-meeting-our-rebellion-with-his/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [Before you^say something Bad to^others ask your-self^why are^you the only one saw^the badness and-->](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-d-r-l-testament/before-you-say-something-bad-to-others-ask-your-self-why-are-you-the/) Junior Dè Rèál Testament > [All the best of the monsters played for sympathy. That goes for my father, Karloff, myself and all the others. They all won the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lon-chaney-jr/all-the-best-of-the-monsters-played-for-sympathy-that-goes-for-my/) Lon Chaney, Jr > [A bad man can do a million times more harm than a beast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-bad-man-can-do-a-million-times-more-harm-than-a-beast/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“But the greatest cause of verbicide is the fact that most people are obviously far more anxious to express their approval and disapproval of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/but-the-greatest-cause-of-verbicide-is-the-fact-that-most-people-are/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? 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It gets more and more scary the older you get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-physics-and-cosmology-it-gets-more-and/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [“What did I brood on, sitting there in the classic pose with my elbows on my knees and my chin on my hands? 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I find them more exciting than human behavior for the most part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-like-ideas-i-find-them-more-exciting-than-human-behavior-for-the/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) [Explore all 158 John Banville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) ## More Badness quotes > [You don't have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it's better if you're not--but you have to understand your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-abrahams/you-don-t-have-to-be-a-good-person-to-be-a-good-writer-history-shows/) [Peter Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-abrahams/) > [I think when you don't know where you stand with someone, they can surprise you in their goodness and their badness, and that makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morrissey/i-think-when-you-don-t-know-where-you-stand-with-someone-they-can/) [David Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-morrissey/) > [A man of bad character punishes his own soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ghazali/a-man-of-bad-character-punishes-his-own-soul/) [Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ghazali/) > [“If you have had a bad day, remember that tomorrow is a wonderful gift and a new chance to try again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/if-you-have-had-a-bad-day-remember-that-tomorrow-is-a-wonderful-gift/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness but my badness, not my merit but my misery, not my riches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-first-link-between-my-soul-and-christ-is-not-my-goodness-but-my/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? 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They all won the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lon-chaney-jr/all-the-best-of-the-monsters-played-for-sympathy-that-goes-for-my/) Lon Chaney, Jr > [Before you^say something Bad to^others ask your-self^why are^you the only one saw^the badness and-->](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-d-r-l-testament/before-you-say-something-bad-to-others-ask-your-self-why-are-you-the/) Junior Dè Rèál Testament > [The Bible is one long story of God meeting our rebellion with His rescue, our sin with His salvation, our guilt with His grace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/the-bible-is-one-long-story-of-god-meeting-our-rebellion-with-his/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [When you've been afraid of something for long enough and it comes to pass, the terrible thing is a release. For in the belly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/when-you-ve-been-afraid-of-something-for-long-enough-and-it-comes-to/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/it-is-possible-that-the-contemplation-of-cruelty-will-not-make-us/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/is-this-how-you-repay-my-goodness-with-badness-cried-the-boy-of/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [“I decide a book is bad if I get angrier and angrier as I read it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-t-o-hara/i-decide-a-book-is-bad-if-i-get-angrier-and-angrier-as-i-read-it/) Daniel T. O'Hara Browse all 124 Badness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By the way, leafing through my dictionary I am struck by the poverty of language when it comes to naming or describing badness. Evil, wickedness, mischief, these words imply an agency, the conscious or at least active doing of wrong. They do not signify the bad in its inert, neutral, self-sustaining state. Then there are the adjectives: dreadful, heinous, execrable, vile, and so on. They are not so much as descriptive as judgmental. They carry a weight of censure mingled with fear. Is this not a queer state of affairs? It makes me wonder. I ask myself if perhaps the thing itself - badness - does not exist at all, if these strangely vague and imprecise words are only a kind of ruse, a kind of elaborate cover for the fact that nothing is there. Or perhaps words are an attempt to make it be there? Or, again, perhaps there is something, but the words invented it. 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