Gregory Bateson Quotes

A book is like a piece of rope; it takes on meaning only in connection with the things it holds together.

Words are not pebbles in alien juxtaposition.

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

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

There is a profound difference between information and meaning.

Metaphor matters because it creates expectations.

It all depends what you mean by.

Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.

Everything I think in life is about context and intention.

Context is to data what water is to a dolphin

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

Weigh the meaning and look not at the words.

A fact in itself is nothing. It is valuable only for the idea attached to it, or for the proof which it furnishes.

Words have meaning. And their meaning doesn't change.

Man lives in a world of meaning.

Testimony gives something to be interpreted.

Without philosophy, history is always for me dead and dumb.

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

People need meanings to everything. People want you to intellectualize every choice you make.

Facts are stupid until brought into connection with some general law.

Message matters. Message matters almost as much as actions.

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.