Cyril Joad Quotes

Who knew three dots could make such a difference? Like everything else, a love or a wish or whatever, it was all in the way you read it.

People like to say, 'What do you mean exactly?' I would answer, 'I mean, but not exactly.'

The more you try to pin a word down, the more you realize that it has its own cape, sword and little hat.

Something's that written out is okay, but it's not always a clear indication of what a person means.

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

In many cases it is a matter for decision and not a simple matter of fact whether x understands y; and so on.

I guess I'm attracted to more archaic words because they can be imbued with more meaning, because their definition is elusive.

I think it's important for people to always understand what is the context is in what is being said, because that obviously determines what folks are talking about.

Write what he means, not what he says.

It depends on what the meaning of “is” is.

you can make mean anything.

when driven to the necessity of explaining, I found that I did not myself understand what I meant.

You know, two people can say exactly the same words, saying the same story, and it would mean something entirely different.

There's what people say, and there's what people mean, and I like to explore the difference between the two.

To define a thing is to substitute the definition for the thing itself.

The ambiguities of language, both in terms of vocabulary and syntax, are fascinating: how important connotation is, what is lost and what is gained in the linguistic transition.

There are always two or three or four sides to every story.

All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation.

You have to make decisions - you know what you think. That doesn't mean the audience are aware of your decisions or what you think - the lines you're saying may have ambiguity.

I try not to interpret things of the world into a single meaning. Rather, I try the opposite.

Language is a tool adequate to provide any degree of precision relevant to a particular situation.

Lady Gaga said to me, 'You showed me how it's done.' I have no idea what she meant by 'it.'

There is a profound difference between information and meaning.

There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words.

I'm perplexed, though, by your application of the term 'negative' to my figural imagery.