--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Words belong to nobody, and in themselves…" description: "\"Words belong to nobody, and in themselves they evaluate nothing. But they can serve any speaker and be used for the most varied and directly contradict..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/mikhail-bakhtin-43416_contradictory_words-belong-to-nobody-and-in-themselves_2696855.jpg" --- # Words belong to nobody, and in themselves they evaluate… ![“Words belong to nobody, and in themselves they evaluate nothing. But they can serve any speaker and be used for the most varied and directly contradictory evaluations on the part of the speakers.” quote by Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/mikhail-bakhtin-43416_contradictory_words-belong-to-nobody-and-in-themselves_2696855.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/mikhail-bakhtin-43416_contradictory_words-belong-to-nobody-and-in-themselves_2696855.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/mikhail-bakhtin-43416_contradictory_words-belong-to-nobody-and-in-themselves_2696855.jpg) > “Words belong to nobody, and in themselves they evaluate nothing. But they can serve any speaker and be used for the most varied and directly contradictory evaluations on the part of the speakers.” [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words themselves are neutral; meaning arises from how speakers use them, allowing contradictory interpretations. **In simple terms:** Words are neutral; meaning depends on usage. Key Takeaway Consider context and intent when interpreting language. Themes language meaning interpretation power dialogue Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - media analysis - political discourse - education - advertising Key Concepts Semiotics relativism speech act theory Questions to Reflect On - How do power dynamics shape word meanings? - Can truly neutral language exist? A Different Perspective It may ignore inherent biases in language structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belong Evaluate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belong-evaluate-2702295/) [Contradictory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictory/) [Contradictory Evaluations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictory-evaluations-2702292/) [Directly Contradictory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/directly-contradictory-2702294/) [Evaluate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evaluate/) [Evaluation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evaluation/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Speakers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speakers/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Words Belong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-belong-2702293/) ## Related quotes > [The genuinely significant creation, whether an idea, or a work of art, or a scientific discovery, is most likely to be seen at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/the-genuinely-significant-creation-whether-an-idea-or-a-work-of-art/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [Evaluations, in essence, are … ways of being, modes of existence of those who judge and evaluate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/evaluations-in-essence-are-ways-of-being-modes-of-existence-of-those/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [It doesn't pay to listen much to what human beings have to say in their evaluation of you, since they don't evaluate themselves very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-doesn-t-pay-to-listen-much-to-what-human-beings-have-to-say-in/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I want to be a free agent. 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Decide to take off now!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-may-explore-you-may-evaluate-but-you-can-t-execute-if-you-are-not/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Evaluate and assess your life on a daily”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/evaluate-and-assess-your-life-on-a-daily/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Many a survivor of a plane crash who is or was against cannibalism and had never eaten human flesh once found themselves in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/many-a-survivor-of-a-plane-crash-who-is-or-was-against-cannibalism/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [ The step that a lot of people miss is a dispassionate evaluation of the reasons \[for rejection\]. If you can dispassionately evaluate the reasons… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-koppelman/the-step-that-a-lot-of-people-miss-is-a-dispassionate-evaluation-of/) [Brian Koppelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-koppelman/) > [“Attitude. That is your tendency to evaluate things based on your perception. If you think you can't, that is a negative attitude parcel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/attitude-that-is-your-tendency-to-evaluate-things-based-on-your/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [For last years words belong to last years language and next years words await another voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ts-eliot/for-last-years-words-belong-to-last-years-language-and-next-years/) [TS Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ts-eliot/) > [Words belong to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/words-belong-to-each-other/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Words belong in contexts, not pegged out like biological specimens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/words-belong-in-contexts-not-pegged-out-like-biological-specimens/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I sought to reform minstrelsy among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-foster/i-sought-to-reform-minstrelsy-among-refined-people-by-making-words/) [Stephen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-foster/) > [language can't be appropriated by one person, one poet. The words belong to all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/language-can-t-be-appropriated-by-one-person-one-poet-the-words/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Words belong to the person who wrote them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/words-belong-to-the-person-who-wrote-them/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) ## More by Mikhail Bakhtin > [The catharsis that finalizes Dostoevsky's novels might be - of course inadequately and somewhat rationalistically - expressed in this way: nothing conclusive has yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/the-catharsis-that-finalizes-dostoevsky-s-novels-might-be-of-course/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [In poetry, even discourse about doubts must be cast in a discourse that cannot be doubted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/in-poetry-even-discourse-about-doubts-must-be-cast-in-a-discourse/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [“What is realized in the novel is the process of coming to know one's own language as it is perceived in someone else's language,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/what-is-realized-in-the-novel-is-the-process-of-coming-to-know-one-s/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [In order to understand, it is immensely important for the person who understands to be located outside the object of his or her creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/in-order-to-understand-it-is-immensely-important-for-the-person-who/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [The word in language is half someone else’s… it exists in other people’s mouths, in other people’s contexts, serving other people’s intentions: it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/the-word-in-language-is-half-someone-else-s-it-exists-in-other-people/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [It becomes 'one's own' only when the speaker populates it with his own intentions, his own accent, when he appropriates the word, adapting it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/it-becomes-one-s-own-only-when-the-speaker-populates-it-with-his-own/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) > [All words have the "taste" of a profession, a genre, a tendency, a party, a particular work, a particular person, a generation, an age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakhtin/all-words-have-the-taste-of-a-profession-a-genre-a-tendency-a-party-a/) [Mikhail Bakhtin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) [Explore all 8 Mikhail Bakhtin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakhtin/) ## More Contradictory quotes > [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/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [We've got a great team sport, but we harp on about individuals. It's a bit contradictory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alun-wyn-jones/we-ve-got-a-great-team-sport-but-we-harp-on-about-individuals-it-s-a/) [Alun Wyn Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alun-wyn-jones/) > [In years to come, he would be a giver of bread, not a stealer - proof again of the contradictory human being. So much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/in-years-to-come-he-would-be-a-giver-of-bread-not-a-stealer-proof/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/strong-men-don-t-compromise-it-is-said-and-principles-should-never-be/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [Ruth and I don't have a perfect marriage, but we have a great one. How can I say two things that seem so contradictory?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/ruth-and-i-don-t-have-a-perfect-marriage-but-we-have-a-great-one-how/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“Away from Lev, she craves his need for her. When with him, it enervates. Why is that? She cannot help it. Nothing to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-richler/away-from-lev-she-craves-his-need-for-her-when-with-him-it-enervates/) [Emma Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-richler/) > [“Throughout my life, I have always felt torn between my dual contradictory natures. I'm the obedient daughter and devoted friend, but also a self-destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elyse-schein/throughout-my-life-i-have-always-felt-torn-between-my-dual/) [Elyse Schein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elyse-schein/) > [When faced with a loss, it is no use trying to recover what has gone. On the other hand, a great space has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-faced-with-a-loss-it-is-no-use-trying-to-recover-what-has-gone/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [ The typical white intellectual considers himself superior to ordinary white people for two contradictory reasons: a\] he constantly proclaims belief in human equality, but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-sailer/the-typical-white-intellectual-considers-himself-superior-to-ordinary/) [Steve Sailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-sailer/) > [It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand the other’s different and contradictory sides and refrain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/it-is-only-through-literature-that-one-can-put-oneself-in-someone/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [A girl asks her doctor, "Doctor, I've forgotten to take my contradictory pill!" The doctor says: "Are you ignorant?" The girl says: "Yes, three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-carson/a-girl-asks-her-doctor-doctor-i-ve-forgotten-to-take-my-contradictory/) [Frank Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-carson/) > [“Is this a Kurdish thing?’ ‘What?’ ‘Being deliberately contradictory?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcdonald/is-this-a-kurdish-thing-what-being-deliberately-contradictory/) [Ian McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcdonald/) [Browse all 443 Contradictory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradictory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Words belong to nobody, and in themselves they evaluate nothing. 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