Ludvig Wittgenstein was born into a very rich Jewish family, professing Catholicism: he was the youngest of eight children of a major industrialist, the founder of the steel industry in Austria-Hungary.
He studied in his hometown, graduated from high school in Linz and planned to study physics under Boltzmann. The latter's death changed the plans of the young Wittgenstein, who enrolled at the Higher Technical School in Berlin and then moved to Manchester, where he studied engineering until around 1911.He participated in the First World War, during which he recorded in his diary those thoughts that later became the core of the Tract he wrote.
After the war, when everyone expected him to return to his usual pursuits (logic, architecture, aircraft construction, bridge-building, music, etc.), Wittgenstein completed courses for ... elementary teachers in auxiliary schools. The most famous philosopher of the time, he, in the midst of the positivist movement, spent several years visiting schools in the villages of Lower Austria, giving up his inheritance and designing - among other things - for one of his sisters a house, an example of "post-modern architecture". ; the house called "Dom Wittgenstein"
Here are some of his fine thoughts to share with you:
"What is our goal in philosophy? To show the fly the way out of the bottle."
"I don't know why we're here in this world, but I'm sure it's not to enjoy ourselves."
"One's important thoughts can be expressed because they can be shared."
"What cannot be said can be shown."
"The limits of my language mark the limits of my world."
"The world is the totality of facts, not objects."
"That which cannot be spoken must be kept silent."
"Art is best not talked about at all."
"Overcoming something is not a matter of intellect, but of will."
"There are things that really cannot be described in words. They reveal themselves. They are what is mystical."
"If we accept that eternity does not mean an infinite length of time, but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present."
"It's hard for someone who knows too much not to lie."
"For the truly religious man there is nothing tragic."
"If people didn't do stupid things, nothing intelligent would be invented."
"There is nothing more difficult than not to deceive yourself."
"To pray is to think about the meaning of life."
"Only a person who lives not in the past and the future as a whole but in the present is happy."
"Our greatest follies can turn out to be very wise."
"Philosophy is a battle with the charm of our intelligence, with the help of our language…"
"Resting on your laurels is just as dangerous as walking through the snow. You can doze off and die in your sleep."
"The face expresses the soul of the body."
"What do I know about God and the meaning of life? I know this world exists."
"It is probably right to say: conscience is the voice of God."
"When the reasons end, the persuasion begins."
"Hell is not other people. You are hell itself!"
"Logic in the world precedes all truth and lies."
"If we spoke a different language, we would perceive the world in a different way."
Shared with joy
A.A
Stob, Bulgaria