The affairs of man are conducted by our own, man-made rules and according to man-made theories. Man's achievements rest upon the use of symbols.... we must consider ourselves as a symbolic, semantic class of life, and those who rule the symbols, rule us.
More Quotes from Alfred Korzybski:
If words are not things, or maps are not the actual territory, then, obviously, the only possible link between the objective world and the linguistic world is found in structure, and structure alone.Alfred Korzybski
There are two ways to slice easily thorugh life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.
Alfred Korzybski
Thus, we see that one of the obvious origins of human disagreement lies in the use of noises for words.
Alfred Korzybski
It is now no mystery that some quite influential philosophers were mentally ill.
Alfred Korzybski
All human knowledge is conditioned and limited, at present, by the properties of light and human symbolism. The solution of all human problems depends upon inquiries into these two conditions and limitations.
Alfred Korzybski
Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness.
Alfred Korzybski
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Based on Topics: Life Quotes, Man Quotes, Sign & Symbol QuotesBased on Keywords: semantic
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