“To define is to limit.”
What this quote means
This maxim highlights the paradox of knowledge: to understand, we must delimit, but in doing so, we sometimes impoverish reality. It invites caution against overly rigid definitions, which confine beings and things in reductive categories. It encourages us to accept ambiguity and complexity, and to recognize that truth is often richer than what words can grasp.
How to apply it daily
When you are tempted to define a person or situation definitively, jot down three aspects that escape that definition and leave room for mystery.
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