--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A logical picture of facts is a thought." description: "\"A logical picture of facts is a thought.\" — Ludwig Wittgenstein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png" --- # A logical picture of facts is a thought. ![“A logical picture of facts is a thought.” quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png) > “A logical picture of facts is a thought.” [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A logical representation of reality is essentially a mental construct, not a direct copy of facts. **In simple terms:** Thoughts model facts logically. Key Takeaway Use logical frameworks to understand reality. Themes philosophy logic representation Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic research - critical thinking - data modeling - argument analysis Key Concepts epistemology semantic theory Questions to Reflect On - What limits do logical pictures have? - When does a picture become misleading? A Different Perspective Logical models can oversimplify complex, messy realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [A picture whose pictorial form is logical form is called a logical picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-picture-whose-pictorial-form-is-logical-form-is-called-a-logical/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“Making the pictures ridiculous is what enables you to really see them; a logical picture is usually too vague.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-lorayne/making-the-pictures-ridiculous-is-what-enables-you-to-really-see-them/) [Harry Lorayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-lorayne/) > [Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/philosophy-aims-at-the-logical-clarification-of-thoughts-philosophy/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [In order to be able to set a limit to thought, we should have to find both sides of the limit thinkable (i.e. we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/in-order-to-be-able-to-set-a-limit-to-thought-we-should-have-to-find/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Words are the small change of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/words-are-the-small-change-of-thought/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [“Perhaps, he thought, if I only think of this second, this moment, the train won't come at all. Think of the water, think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/perhaps-he-thought-if-i-only-think-of-this-second-this-moment-the/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [Time and space are only forms of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/time-and-space-are-only-forms-of-thought/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) > [To one who is accustomed to thinking a lot, every new thought that he hears or reads about immediately appears as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-one-who-is-accustomed-to-thinking-a-lot-every-new-thought-that-he/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A word is a thought, of course. But any image, including a photograph, may become an instrument of sufficiently lucid cogitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/a-word-is-a-thought-of-course-but-any-image-including-a-photograph/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Shut your eyes and you will know what I mean by thought entombed in darkness. Light comes through the senses, and not only through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/shut-your-eyes-and-you-will-know-what-i-mean-by-thought-entombed-in/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [ The system \[of thought\] doesn't stay with the difficult problem that produces unpleasant feelings. It's conditioned somehow to move as fast as it can… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/the-system-of-thought-doesn-t-stay-with-the-difficult-problem-that/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [It's only a thought and a thought can be changed. Choose good ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/it-s-only-a-thought-and-a-thought-can-be-changed-choose-good-ones/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Thought determines action. Do not let your whole life be a reaction to the things that happen around you each day. Let your life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kelly/thought-determines-action-do-not-let-your-whole-life-be-a-reaction-to/) [Matthew Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kelly/) > [All that we are is the result of what we have thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-we-are-is-the-result-of-what-we-have-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgotten thought is the ultimate entropy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-lintern/forgotten-thought-is-the-ultimate-entropy/) Neil Lintern ## More by Ludwig Wittgenstein > [“But some of the greatest achievements in philosophy could only be compared with taking up some books which seemed to belong together, and putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/but-some-of-the-greatest-achievements-in-philosophy-could-only-be/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [What can be shown, cannot be said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/what-can-be-shown-cannot-be-said/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“This is connected with the conception of naming as a process that is, so to speak, occult. Naming seems to be a \_strange\_ connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/this-is-connected-with-the-conception-of-naming-as-a-process-that-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [If a lion could talk, we could not understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/if-a-lion-could-talk-we-could-not-understand-him/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [White must be the lightest color in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/white-must-be-the-lightest-color-in-a-picture/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Freud's fanciful pseudo-explanations (precisely because they are brilliant) perform a disservice. Now any ass has these pictures available to use in "explaining" symptoms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/freud-s-fanciful-pseudo-explanations-precisely-because-they-are/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [In order to be able to set a limit to thought, we should have to find both sides of the limit thinkable (i.e. we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/in-order-to-be-able-to-set-a-limit-to-thought-we-should-have-to-find/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [A teacher who can show good, or indeed astounding results while he is teaching, is still not on that account a good teacher, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-teacher-who-can-show-good-or-indeed-astounding-results-while-he-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/one-often-makes-a-remark-and-only-later-sees-how-true-it-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Where does our investigation get its importance from, since it seems only to destroy everything interesting, that is, all that is great and important?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/where-does-our-investigation-get-its-importance-from-since-it-seems/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [There is such a thing as the impression of luminosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/there-is-such-a-thing-as-the-impression-of-luminosity/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/death-is-not-an-event-in-life-we-do-not-live-to-experience-death-if/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [I Once wrote: "In mathematics process and result are equivalent."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/i-once-wrote-in-mathematics-process-and-result-are-equivalent/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/philosophy-aims-at-the-logical-clarification-of-thoughts-philosophy/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed. Ethics are transcendental. (Ethics and æsthetics are one.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/it-is-clear-that-ethics-cannot-be-expressed-ethics-are-transcendental/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) [Explore all 454 Ludwig Wittgenstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) ## More Facts quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [He bombarded me with words, of all things, apparently clueless to the fact that the predawn hours rendered me incapable of coherent thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/he-bombarded-me-with-words-of-all-things-apparently-clueless-to-the/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. You can save face but you won't ever save your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/because-the-truth-is-that-gossip-is-as-good-as-gospel-in-this-town/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [We did an episode where she goes out to get a job and she gets fired because she's not good. They hire a babysitter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-heaton/we-did-an-episode-where-she-goes-out-to-get-a-job-and-she-gets-fired/) [Patricia Heaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-heaton/) > [Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. The biologist passes, the frog remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/le-biologiste-passe-la-grenouille-reste-the-biologist-passes-the-frog/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) [Browse all 19,906 Facts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A logical picture of facts is a thought.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ludwig Wittgenstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Facts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_facts_a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought_2256437.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A logical picture of facts is a thought.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein", "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": "Ludwig Wittgenstein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A logical picture of facts is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-logical-picture-of-facts-is-a-thought/#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 } } ] } ```