--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The constructions of language, which is…" description: "\"The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience, not the other way around.\" — Wendell Berry" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg" --- # The constructions of language, which is to say the… ![“The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience, not the other way around.” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg) > “The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience, not the other way around.” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thoughts are shaped by experiences, not the reverse; language reflects how we perceive the world. **In simple terms:** Experience shapes language and thought. Key Takeaway Observe how personal experiences influence your vocabulary. Themes philosophy cognitive science language Mood reflective inquisitive Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - education - writing - cross‑cultural communication - personal reflection Key Concepts constructivism experience semantics Questions to Reflect On - How do your experiences color your thinking? - Can language ever be truly independent of experience? A Different Perspective Overemphasizing experience may ignore innate cognitive structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Constructions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constructions-533972/) [Constructions Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constructions-language-533969/) [Constructions Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constructions-thought-533968/) [Formed Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formed-experience-533971/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thought Formed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-formed-533970/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [We are made of memories and formed by experience. I keep wondering what kind of people we would be, and what kind of world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-halpern/we-are-made-of-memories-and-formed-by-experience-i-keep-wondering/) [Sue Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-halpern/) > [We men are easily prone to sins of thought. Therefore, He who has formed each heart individually, knowing that the impulse received from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/we-men-are-easily-prone-to-sins-of-thought-therefore-he-who-has/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [“No thought can be formed that isn't informed by the past; or, more precisely, we think only thanks to analogies that link or present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-sander-and-douglas-hofstadter/no-thought-can-be-formed-that-isn-t-informed-by-the-past-or-more/) [Emmanuel Sander and Douglas Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-sander-and-douglas-hofstadter/) > [The text is a limited field of possible constructions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-text-is-a-limited-field-of-possible-constructions/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [I am on the hunt for constructions. 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Every words that serves no function, every long word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/but-the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-strip-every-sentence-to-its/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [Cold calculation, random spots of color, mathematically exact construction (clearly shown or concealed), drawing that is now silent and now strident . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-puccini/cold-calculation-random-spots-of-color-mathematically-exact/) [Giacomo Puccini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-puccini/) > [To follow good manners willingly is like paving the road and to tell somebody to follow them is like the road which is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/to-follow-good-manners-willingly-is-like-paving-the-road-and-to-tell/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. 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Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Construction quotes > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [To follow good manners willingly is like paving the road and to tell somebody to follow them is like the road which is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/to-follow-good-manners-willingly-is-like-paving-the-road-and-to-tell/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Cold calculation, random spots of color, mathematically exact construction (clearly shown or concealed), drawing that is now silent and now strident . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-puccini/cold-calculation-random-spots-of-color-mathematically-exact/) [Giacomo Puccini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-puccini/) > [“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every long word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/but-the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-strip-every-sentence-to-its/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [Sometimes I think the resurrection of the body, unless much improved in construction, a mistake!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/sometimes-i-think-the-resurrection-of-the-body-unless-much-improved/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [“Create with the heart; build with the mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/create-with-the-heart-build-with-the-mind/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [ I'm telling you, I could teach at a university, \[George\] Carlin, a whole semester. The construction and deconstruction of the words, the language, the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-m-telling-you-i-could-teach-at-a-university-george-carlin-a-whole/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [Seoul will strictly limit the total greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and expand the construction of zero-energy buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-won-soon/seoul-will-strictly-limit-the-total-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from/) [Park Won-soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-won-soon/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Over 275,000 people had signed to end the construction of the TMT telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) by week 20 of the protest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/over-275-000-people-had-signed-to-end-the-construction-of-the-tmt/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from concepts ; mathematical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from the construction of concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/philosophical-knowledge-is-the-knowledge-gained-by-reason-from/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Any subject is suitable provided it is of sufficient interest, but the design must be very carefully considered, and plenty of time and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/any-subject-is-suitable-provided-it-is-of-sufficient-interest-but-the/) [Walter J. 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It is that each department is truly independent of the others, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/my-construction-of-the-constitution-is-very-different-from-that-you/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Browse all 942 Construction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience, not the other way around.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-constructions-of-language-which-is-to-say-the-constructions-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Construction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-constructions-of-language-which-is-to-say-the-constructions-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/wendell-berry-236_construction_the-constructions-of-language-which-is-t_828123.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience…” — Wendell Berry", "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": "Wendell Berry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The constructions of language, which is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-constructions-of-language-which-is-to-say-the-constructions-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-constructions-of-language-which-is-to-say-the-constructions-of/#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 } } ] } ```