Quotes About Interpretation

It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess.

I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.

Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it? said the March Hare. Exactly so, said Alice. Then you should say what you mean, the March Hare went on. I do, Alice hastily replied; at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know. You might just as well say, added the Dormouse, which seemed to be talking in its sleep, that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe!

And how do you know that you're mad? To begin with, said the Cat, a dog's not mad. You grant that? I suppose so, said Alice. Well then, the Cat went on, you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags it's tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.

Tut, tut, child! said the Duchess. Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.

When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.

Then you should say what you mean, the March Hare went on. I do, Alice hastily replied; at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know. Not the same thing a bit! said the Hatter. You might just as well say that I see what I eat is the same thing as I eat what I see!

You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit. Perhaps it hasn't one, Alice ventured to remark. Tut, tut, child! said the Duchess. Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.

Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on: 'And how do you know that you're mad?' 'To begin with,' said the Cat, 'a dog's not mad. You grant that?' 'I suppose so,' said Alice. 'Well then,' the Cat went on, 'you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.' 'I call it purring, not growling,' said Alice.

When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more, nor less.

I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.

When you are describing, A shape, or sound, or tint; Don't state the matter plainly, But put it in a hint; And learn to look at all things, With a sort of mental squint.

I'm very much afraid I didn't mean anything but nonsense. Still, you know, words mean more than we mean to express when we use them; so a whole book ought to mean a great deal more than the writer means. So, whatever good meanings are in the book, I'm glad to accept as the meaning of the book.

I am not crazy, my reality is just different from yours.-Cheshire Cat

Well, then,' the Cat went on, 'you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.

If there's no meaning in it, said the King, that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn't try to find any. And yet I don't know, he went on [...]; I seem to see some meaning in them, after all.

what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?

Every story has a moral you just need to be clever enough to find it - the Dutchess

What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations? -Alice in Wonderland

If you think we're waxworks, he said, you ought to pay, you know.Waxworks weren't made to be looked at for nothing. Nohow! Contrariwise, added the one marked 'DEE', if you think we're alive, you ought to speak.

For instance, take the two words fuming and furious. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards fuming, you will say fuming-furious; if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards furious, you will say furious-fuming; but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say frumious.

When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.

I maintain that any writer of a book is fully authorised in attaching any meaning he likes to a word or phrase he intends to use. If I find an author saying, at the beginning of his book, Let it be understood that by the word 'black' I shall always mean 'white,' and by the word 'white' I shall always mean 'black,' I meekly accept his ruling, however injudicious I think it.

To begin with, said the Cat, a dog's not mad. You grant that? I suppose so, said Alice Well, then, the Cat went on, you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad. I call it purring, not growling, said Alice. Call it what you like, said the Cat.