--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even if any given terminology is a…" description: "\"Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg" --- # Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality… ![“Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality,” quote by Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg) > “Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality,” [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Terminology selects parts of reality, shaping perception and sometimes diverting attention from the whole. **In simple terms:** Words pick parts of reality, can mislead. Key Takeaway Be aware of how language frames truth. Themes language perception reality semantics Mood critical analytical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic writing - political discourse - marketing strategies Key Concepts selection bias deflection interpretation Questions to Reflect On - What terms do you use that might hide complexity? - How can you clarify meaning beyond jargon? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on labels can obscure nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deflection/) [Deflection Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deflection-reality-2231265/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-nature-443436/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Reflection Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection-reality-277615/) [Selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selection/) [Terminology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terminology/) [Terminology Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terminology-reflection-2231266/) ## Related quotes > [Men seek for vocabularies that are reflections of reality. To this end, they must develop vocabularies that are selections of reality. And any selection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/men-seek-for-vocabularies-that-are-reflections-of-reality-to-this-end/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [ The clearer that division \[of social media\] is between it not being a reflection of reality, and being a complete make-believe world, the more… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-dallas-howard/the-clearer-that-division-of-social-media-is-between-it-not-being-a/) [Bryce Dallas Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-dallas-howard/) > [“Those will realize, who are capable of reflection, that the reality which excites us is an idea, of which the indirection, the veiling, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smith-iii-ted-j/those-will-realize-who-are-capable-of-reflection-that-the-reality/) [Smith III, Ted J](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smith-iii-ted-j/) > [“Cinema is a reflection of reality. But you will feel things that you want to Existentially.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeesh/cinema-is-a-reflection-of-reality-but-you-will-feel-things-that-you/) [Pradeesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pradeesh/) > [“It may not be as dramatic or funny to make a movie about a woman who loves both her job and her family, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/it-may-not-be-as-dramatic-or-funny-to-make-a-movie-about-a-woman-who-2/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [“We experience this life in a reflection of our own reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-w-fehr/we-experience-this-life-in-a-reflection-of-our-own-reality/) [Rick W.Fehr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-w-fehr/) > [Accurate drawing, accurate colour, is perhaps not the essential thing to aim at, because the reflection of reality in a mirror, if it could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/accurate-drawing-accurate-colour-is-perhaps-not-the-essential-thing/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Art is not a reflection of reality, it is the reality of a reflection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/art-is-not-a-reflection-of-reality-it-is-the-reality-of-a-reflection/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [“But existence is a deflection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/but-existence-is-a-deflection/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [You know, a meme is now circulating that's called the Ostrich Brigade. And it's used to describe all those people who are burying their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalia-mogahed/you-know-a-meme-is-now-circulating-that-s-called-the-ostrich-brigade/) [Dalia Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalia-mogahed/) > [We not only need to train people, we also need to develop deflection technologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/we-not-only-need-to-train-people-we-also-need-to-develop-deflection/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [On sand, you can never be sure of anything. An ordinary shot can take a wicked deflection at the last moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/on-sand-you-can-never-be-sure-of-anything-an-ordinary-shot-can-take-a/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [“I accept your deflection and raise you another question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/i-accept-your-deflection-and-raise-you-another-question/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [The determined fixing of our will upon God, and pressing toward him steadily and without deflection; this is the very center and the art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/the-determined-fixing-of-our-will-upon-god-and-pressing-toward-him/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [I'm straight, but the character was too important to me to muddle his world with my private life. As a nobody, I got away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-harold/i-m-straight-but-the-character-was-too-important-to-me-to-muddle-his/) [Gale Harold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-harold/) ## More by Kenneth Burke > [ The most characteristic concern of rhetoric \[is\] the manipulation of men's beliefs for political ends…the basic function of rhetoric \[is\] the use of words… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/the-most-characteristic-concern-of-rhetoric-is-the-manipulation-of/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [Man is rotten with perfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/man-is-rotten-with-perfection/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [“It's more complicated than that." TL in "The Rhetoric of Religion”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/it-s-more-complicated-than-that-tl-in-the-rhetoric-of-religion/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [“With my book in one hand And my drink in the other What more could I want But fame, Better health, And ten million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/with-my-book-in-one-hand-and-my-drink-in-the-other-what-more-could-i/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [Creation implies authority in the sense of originator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/creation-implies-authority-in-the-sense-of-originator/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [If decisions were a choice between alternatives, decisions would come easy. Decision is the selection and formulation of alternatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/if-decisions-were-a-choice-between-alternatives-decisions-would-come/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [For no continuity of social act is possible without a corresponding social status and the many different kinds of act required in an industrial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/for-no-continuity-of-social-act-is-possible-without-a-corresponding/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [Man is/the symbol-using (symbol making, symbol-misusing) animal/inventor of the negative (or moralized by the negative)/separated from his natural condition by instruments of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/man-is-the-symbol-using-symbol-making-symbol-misusing-animal-inventor/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [The use of words by human agents to form attitudes or induce actionsin other human agents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/the-use-of-words-by-human-agents-to-form-attitudes-or-induce/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [You persuade a man only insofar as you can talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, identifying your ways with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/you-persuade-a-man-only-insofar-as-you-can-talk-his-language-by/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [Rhetoric is rooted in an essential function of language itself, a function that is wholly realistic and continually born anew: the use of language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/rhetoric-is-rooted-in-an-essential-function-of-language-itself-a/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [We not only interpret the character of events... we may also interpret our interpretations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/we-not-only-interpret-the-character-of-events-we-may-also-interpret/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [Language does our thinking for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/language-does-our-thinking-for-us/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [“Ecology teaches us “that the total economy of the planet cannot be guided by an efficient rationale of exploitation alone,” wrote Burke more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/ecology-teaches-us-that-the-total-economy-of-the-planet-cannot-be/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) > [A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/a-way-of-seeing-is-also-a-way-of-not-seeing/) [Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) [Explore all 27 Kenneth Burke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/) ## More Deflection quotes > [I'm straight, but the character was too important to me to muddle his world with my private life. As a nobody, I got away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-harold/i-m-straight-but-the-character-was-too-important-to-me-to-muddle-his/) [Gale Harold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-harold/) > [The determined fixing of our will upon God, and pressing toward him steadily and without deflection; this is the very center and the art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/the-determined-fixing-of-our-will-upon-god-and-pressing-toward-him/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [On sand, you can never be sure of anything. An ordinary shot can take a wicked deflection at the last moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/on-sand-you-can-never-be-sure-of-anything-an-ordinary-shot-can-take-a/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [“But existence is a deflection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/but-existence-is-a-deflection/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [You know, a meme is now circulating that's called the Ostrich Brigade. And it's used to describe all those people who are burying their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalia-mogahed/you-know-a-meme-is-now-circulating-that-s-called-the-ostrich-brigade/) [Dalia Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalia-mogahed/) > [We not only need to train people, we also need to develop deflection technologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/we-not-only-need-to-train-people-we-also-need-to-develop-deflection/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [“I accept your deflection and raise you another question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/i-accept-your-deflection-and-raise-you-another-question/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [And for the authentical truth of either person or actions, who (worth the respecting) will expect it in a poem, whose subject is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-chapman/and-for-the-authentical-truth-of-either-person-or-actions-who-worth/) [George Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-chapman/) > [Science is now the craft of the manipulation, substitution and deflection of the forces of nature. What I see coming is a gigantic slaughterhouse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-chargaff/science-is-now-the-craft-of-the-manipulation-substitution-and/) [Erwin Chargaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-chargaff/) > [I gained in experience with every plane shot down, and now was able to fire in a calm, deliberate manner. Each attack was made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-trevor-godfrey/i-gained-in-experience-with-every-plane-shot-down-and-now-was-able-to/) [John Trevor Godfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-trevor-godfrey/) > [I never got tired of watching the radar echo from an aircraft as it first appeared as a tiny blip in the noise on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hanbury-brown/i-never-got-tired-of-watching-the-radar-echo-from-an-aircraft-as-it/) [Robert Hanbury Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hanbury-brown/) > [I am not a good shot. Few of us are. To make up for this I hold my fire until I have a shot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-meyer/i-am-not-a-good-shot-few-of-us-are-to-make-up-for-this-i-hold-my-fire/) [John C. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-meyer/) [Browse all 13 Deflection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deflection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality,", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kenneth Burke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-reflection-of-reality-by-its-very/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deflection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-reflection-of-reality-by-its-very/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/kenneth-burke-22616_deflection_even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-refle_2636361.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a…” — Kenneth Burke", "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": "Kenneth Burke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Even if any given terminology is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-reflection-of-reality-by-its-very/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/even-if-any-given-terminology-is-a-reflection-of-reality-by-its-very/#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 } } ] } ```