Dexter Gordon Quotes

There is a profound difference between information and meaning.

Metaphor matters because it creates expectations.

I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things.

Paper and ink are all but trash, if I cannot find the thought which the writer did think.

I look at you and I write down what I hear.

I really value words. I really try to illustrate and let people draw their own conclusions.

People have to find ways of explaining the work.

I'm here to make sense.

If you will read again what is written, you will see how it was.

Testimony gives something to be interpreted.

The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouths they have been in.

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

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

I have no message.

For me context is the key - from that comes the understanding of everything.

I don't think you really can send an exact message, because any two viewers are so disparate, in terms of their backgrounds, their point of view, their histories, that there's no telling what that message might be.

I aim to be translucent, so you don't notice the words, just their meaning. I haven't much insight into people's motivations.

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.

The medium is not the message - the message is the message.

The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.

Write what he means, not what he says.

It’s not what you say; it’s what people hear.

You can tell a lot in shorthand.

I just wanted to tell good stories that helped explain the world to people.

I want people to make sense of what I'm talking about.