--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We do not learn first what to talk about…" description: "\"We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.\" — Willard Van Orman Quine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg" --- # We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to… ![“We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.” quote by Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg) > “We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.” [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We first decide what topics matter, then find language to discuss them, reversing typical learning order. **In simple terms:** Choose subjects before words. Key Takeaway Prioritize ideas over phrasing. Themes philosophy language learning Mood reflective analytical Type theoretical educational When to use this quote - academic research - writing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts semantic theory concept formation Questions to Reflect On - What topics do you need before you can speak? - How does this affect creativity? A Different Perspective Focusing on topics first may limit expressive flexibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ## Related quotes > [“Talk Back? That's really what it's called? You're supposed to walk into some church basement and say, 'I'm here to learn how to Talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-gilbert-murdock/talk-back-that-s-really-what-it-s-called-you-re-supposed-to-walk-into/) [Catherine Gilbert Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-gilbert-murdock/) > [If you listen, you'll learn. If you talk over each other, you don't accomplish anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/if-you-listen-you-ll-learn-if-you-talk-over-each-other-you-don-t/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Some people never learn how to talk to kids. They turn up the volume and enunciate with extra care, as if talking to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-paul-wilson/some-people-never-learn-how-to-talk-to-kids-they-turn-up-the-volume/) [F. Paul Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-paul-wilson/) > [After a stroke we can re-learn how to talk, because by practicing we can establish different pathways in the brain, circumnavigating the damaged part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-perry/after-a-stroke-we-can-re-learn-how-to-talk-because-by-practicing-we/) [Philippa Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-perry/) > [“We must learn how to talk to one another and, more important, listen to one other. We must learn to talk to people we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-headlee/we-must-learn-how-to-talk-to-one-another-and-more-important-listen-to/) Celeste Headlee > [One must learn to be silent just as one must learn to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/one-must-learn-to-be-silent-just-as-one-must-learn-to-talk/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [If you listen, you learn; if you talk, you don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/if-you-listen-you-learn-if-you-talk-you-don-t/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [If we’re going to solve the problems of the world, we have to learn how to talk to one another. Poetry is the language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/if-we-re-going-to-solve-the-problems-of-the-world-we-have-to-learn/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [“There are two kinds of people in this world who never learn: those who always talk, and those who never listen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-uner/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-this-world-who-never-learn-those-who/) [T.A. Uner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-uner/) > [“When you learn to talk people up, you will never talk yourself down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richmond-akhigbe/when-you-learn-to-talk-people-up-you-will-never-talk-yourself-down/) [Richmond Akhigbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richmond-akhigbe/) > [The great challenge facing us today is to learn once again how to talk to one another, not simply how to generate and consume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-great-challenge-facing-us-today-is-to-learn-once-again-how-to-2/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [You must learn to talk clearly. The jargon of scientific terminology which rolls off your tongues is mental garbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-h-fischer/you-must-learn-to-talk-clearly-the-jargon-of-scientific-terminology/) [Martin H. Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-h-fischer/) > [We must learn to talk with each other, and we mutually must understand and accept one another in our extraordinary differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/we-must-learn-to-talk-with-each-other-and-we-mutually-must-understand/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [If you ever want to be intimate with a women, you need to learn how to talk to her like shes a women. and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-ever-want-to-be-intimate-with-a-women-you-need-to-learn-how-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As you grow, you learn and talk about different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginuwine/as-you-grow-you-learn-and-talk-about-different-things/) [Ginuwine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginuwine/) ## More by Willard Van Orman Quine > [It is one of the consolations of philosophy that the benefit of showing how to dispense with a concept does not hinge on dispensing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/it-is-one-of-the-consolations-of-philosophy-that-the-benefit-of/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Theory may be deliberate, as in a chapter on chemistry, or it may be second nature, as in the immemorial doctrine of ordinary enduring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/theory-may-be-deliberate-as-in-a-chapter-on-chemistry-or-it-may-be/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The line that I am urging as today's conventional wisdom is not a denial of consciousness. It is often called, with more reason, arepudiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-line-that-i-am-urging-as-today-s-conventional-wisdom-is-not-a/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Our talk of external things, our very notion of things, is just a conceptual apparatus that helps us to foresee and control the triggerings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/our-talk-of-external-things-our-very-notion-of-things-is-just-a/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The mastery of one's phonemes may be compared to the violinist's mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-mastery-of-one-s-phonemes-may-be-compared-to-the-violinist-s/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [“Believing is a disposition. We could tire ourselves out thinking, if we put our minds to it, but believing takes no toll.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/believing-is-a-disposition-we-could-tire-ourselves-out-thinking-if-we/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The strategy of semantic ascent is that it carries the discussion into a domain where both parties are better agreed on the objects (viz.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-strategy-of-semantic-ascent-is-that-it-carries-the-discussion/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic definition of truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/scientific-method-is-the-way-to-truth-but-it-affords-even-in/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [ Some have said that the thesis \[of indeterminacy\] is a consequence of my behaviorism. Some have said that it is a reductio ad absurdum… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-have-said-that-the-thesis-of-indeterminacy-is-a-consequence-of/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Some may find comfort in reflecting that the distinction between an eliminative and an explicative physicalism is unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/some-may-find-comfort-in-reflecting-that-the-distinction-between-an/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [We must not leap to the fatalistic conclusion that we are stuck with the conceptual scheme that we grew up in. We can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-must-not-leap-to-the-fatalistic-conclusion-that-we-are-stuck-with/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-word-definition-has-come-to-have-a-dangerously-reassuring-sound/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Logic chases truth up the tree of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/logic-chases-truth-up-the-tree-of-grammar/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Science is not a substitute for common sense, but an extension of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/science-is-not-a-substitute-for-common-sense-but-an-extension-of-it/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [The variables of quantification, 'something,' 'nothing,' 'everything,' range over our whole ontology, whatever it may be; and we are convicted of a particular ontological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-variables-of-quantification-something-nothing-everything-range/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) [Explore all 67 Willard Van Orman Quine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. Otherwise the world would be full of millionaires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/in-school-you-are-taught-to-obey-and-not-to-think-straight-for-your/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willard Van Orman Quine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about-and-then-what-to-say-about-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about-and-then-what-to-say-about-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/willard-van-orman-quine-10137_education_we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about_960282.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.” — Willard Van Orman Quine", "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": "Willard Van Orman Quine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We do not learn first what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about-and-then-what-to-say-about-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/we-do-not-learn-first-what-to-talk-about-and-then-what-to-say-about-it/#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 } } ] } ```