--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mystical is not how the world is, but…" description: "\"“The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.”\" — Ludwig Wittgenstein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png" --- # The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is. ![“The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.” quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png) > ““The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.”” [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. Mysticism lies not in describing reality, but in recognizing that reality itself is a mystery. **In simple terms:** Mystery is about the world’s nature, not its description. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty as part of understanding reality. Themes mysticism philosophy ontology language limit of knowledge Mood contemplative curious Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual practice - academic discussion - creative writing Key Concepts phenomenology existentialism epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging mystery affect your daily decisions? - Can mystery coexist with scientific inquiry? A Different Perspective Focusing on mystery may hinder actionable knowledge or problem solving. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mystical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystical/) [Mysticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysticism/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I am the witch of my mystical world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usha-cosmico/i-am-the-witch-of-my-mystical-world/) [Usha Cosmico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usha-cosmico/) > [I like how Ralph Lauren creates a mystical world through his clothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-koenig/i-like-how-ralph-lauren-creates-a-mystical-world-through-his-clothing/) [Ezra Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-koenig/) > [We need not wait for the world to become more mystical; the world is mystical. Our problem is not that the world lacks magic;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/we-need-not-wait-for-the-world-to-become-more-mystical-the-world-is/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“In a suspended psychic state, writers cull words and symbols from the mystical world of memory, imagination, and intuition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/in-a-suspended-psychic-state-writers-cull-words-and-symbols-from-the/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [That the world is, is the mystical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/that-the-world-is-is-the-mystical/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Poetic experience is distinct in nature from mystical experience. Because poetry emanates from the free creativity of the spirit,it is from the very start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/poetic-experience-is-distinct-in-nature-from-mystical-experience/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [If you are ready for mystical experiences, you have them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/if-you-are-ready-for-mystical-experiences-you-have-them/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [“The Center of Center is but one. The Center is more interior than any Circumference.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dionysius-andreas-freher/the-center-of-center-is-but-one-the-center-is-more-interior-than-any/) Dionysius Andreas Freher > [Mystical explanations are thought to be deep; the truth is that they are not even shallow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/mystical-explanations-are-thought-to-be-deep-the-truth-is-that-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Religion is nothing but institutionalized mysticism. The catch is, mysticism does not lend itself to institutionalization. The moment we attempt to organize mysticism, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-nothing-but-institutionalized-mysticism-the-catch-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As Eastern thought has begun to interest a significant number of people, and meditation is no longer viewed with ridicule or suspicion, mysticism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritjof-capra/as-eastern-thought-has-begun-to-interest-a-significant-number-of/) [Fritjof Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritjof-capra/) > [The unlocking of the kundalini, which occurs by meditating on the first, second and third chakras, is the entrance into the planes of power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-unlocking-of-the-kundalini-which-occurs-by-meditating-on-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The word mystical is an even worse word than spirituality - that artists take drugs, and then they add some crazy extra thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-martin/the-word-mystical-is-an-even-worse-word-than-spirituality-that/) [Chris Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-martin/) > [I don't think the mystical experience can be verbalized. When the ego disappears, so does power over language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-don-t-think-the-mystical-experience-can-be-verbalized-when-the-ego/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## 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 Mystical quotes > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Tonight I have inundated you with the mystical kundalini. Now, of course, I'm moving into the supra-conscious; it's kind of a doubleheader this evening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/tonight-i-have-inundated-you-with-the-mystical-kundalini-now-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Generating ideas isn't some mystical talent that you have to be born with: it's a skill you can develop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/generating-ideas-isn-t-some-mystical-talent-that-you-have-to-be-born/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [If physics leads us today to a world view which is essentially mystical, it returns, in a way, to its beginning, 2,500 years ago.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritjof-capra/if-physics-leads-us-today-to-a-world-view-which-is-essentially/) [Fritjof Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritjof-capra/) > [I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-of-lisieux/i-feel-in-me-the-vocation-of-the-priest-i-have-the-vocation-of-the/) [Therese of Lisieux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-of-lisieux/) > [I think the word 'soul' - it depends on what you define by 'soul.' If you're defining it as a mystical aura that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-nicolelis/i-think-the-word-soul-it-depends-on-what-you-define-by-soul-if-you-re/) [Miguel Nicolelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-nicolelis/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [I think most people are fascinated by chess for that reason. It's just these mystical shapes. It's almost like Harry Potteresque, like wizard's chess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-ashley/i-think-most-people-are-fascinated-by-chess-for-that-reason-it-s-just/) [Maurice Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-ashley/) > [“Where I'm is one of those stair climbing machines the agent has installed. You climb and climb forever and never get off the ground.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/where-i-m-is-one-of-those-stair-climbing-machines-the-agent-has/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Beyond its practical aspects, gardening - be it of the soil or soul - can lead us on a philosophical and spiritual exploration that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdowell/beyond-its-practical-aspects-gardening-be-it-of-the-soil-or-soul-can/) [Christopher McDowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdowell/) > [The kundalini flows upward. It also flows downward in different ways. It is quite complex, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-kundalini-flows-upward-it-also-flows-downward-in-different-ways/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Through the proper application of kundalini, a woman can quickly become aware of the tremendous power that resides inside herself and reach enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/through-the-proper-application-of-kundalini-a-woman-can-quickly/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Because hardly anyone has seen 'Aaranya Kaandam,' it's like a mystical Yeti.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thiagarajan-kumararaja/because-hardly-anyone-has-seen-aaranya-kaandam-it-s-like-a-mystical/) [Thiagarajan Kumararaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thiagarajan-kumararaja/) > [Certain mystical philosophers have personified Destiny, and from this point of view each man's personal destiny is his archetype or "other self"--his "angel"--with whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-le-gai-eaton/certain-mystical-philosophers-have-personified-destiny-and-from-this/) [Charles le Gai Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-le-gai-eaton/) > [It is a strange and wonderful fact to be here, walking around in a body, to have a whole world within you and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/it-is-a-strange-and-wonderful-fact-to-be-here-walking-around-in-a/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) [Browse all 723 Mystical quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystical/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ludwig Wittgenstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but-that-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mystical" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but-that-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_mystical_the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but_3182929.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.” — 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": "“The mystical is not how the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but-that-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-mystical-is-not-how-the-world-is-but-that-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```