J.L. Austin > Quotes

“After all we speak of people 'taking refuge' in vagueness -the more precise you are, in general the more likely you are to be wrong, whereas you stand a good chance of not being wrong if you make it vague enough.”
― J.L. Austin, Sense and Sensibilia: Reconstructed from the Manuscript Notes by C.J. Warnock

“It is not enough to show how clever we are by showing how obscure everything is".”
― J.L. Austin, Ordinary Language

“Philosophers often seem to think that they can just 'assign' any meaning whatever to any word; and so no doubt, in an absolutely trivial sense, they can (like Humpty-Dumpty).”
― J.L. Austin, Sense and Sensibilia: Reconstructed from the Manuscript Notes by C.J. Warnock

“...the philosopher's professional addiction to furniture...”
― J L Austin

“You have a donkey, so have I, and they graze in the same field. The day comes when I conceive a dislike for mine. I go to shoot it,draw a bead on it, fire: the brute falls in its tracks. I inspect the victim, and find to my horror that it is your donkey. I appear on your doorstep with the remains and say--what? 'I say, old sport, I'm awfully sorry, &c., I've shot your donkey by adccident'? Or 'by mistake'? Then again, I go to shoot my donkey as before, draw a bead on it, fire-but as I do so, the beasts move, and to my horror yours falls. Again the scene on the doorstep--what do I say? 'By mistake'? Or 'by accident'?”
― J.L. Austin