Absolutes Quote by John Barth
““Articulation! There, by Joe, was MY absolute, if I could be said to have one. At any rate, it is the only thing I can think of about which I ever had, with any frequency at all, the feelings one usually has for one's absolutes. To turn experience into speech - that is, to classify, to categorize, to conceptualize, to grammarize, to syntactify it - is always a betrayal of experience, a falsification of it; but only so betrayed can it be dealt with at all, and only in so dealing with it did I ever feel a man, alive and kicking.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The End of the Road by John Barth, 1958
Transforming experience into language inevitably distorts it, yet this distortion is necessary to process and understand life.
In simple terms: Speaking changes experience, but helps us deal with it.
Key Takeaway
Accept that language reshapes reality.
Themes
language
experience
truth
art
expression
Mood
reflective
introspective
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- writing
- therapy
- teaching
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
philosophy
semiotics
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How does naming affect your perception?
- Can you think of a moment when words helped you heal?
A Different Perspective
Language can never fully capture raw feeling.
![“I was pretty nervous when I met Robert Kirkman. It's very strange to meet someone who created you. Andrea [ from The Walking Dead] is still very much alive and kicking, seven years into the comic book, so to meet Robert and be like, "Hi, I'm Andrea," I had to just hope that he was happy with the…” quote by Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5db/laurie-holden-20216_alive_i-was-pretty-nervous-when-i-met-robert-k_1101810.jpg)
![“Their [the U.S.’s] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as ‘their home — their fortress.’ And good for them, I say. Well done!” quote by Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ec3/vladimir-putin-261_absolutes_their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolu_10791.jpg)
