Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The quote suggests that many words can be presented like a trace of a crime, implying that language can leave evidence of intent.
In plain terms
Words can act like evidence of a crime.
What can you take from it?
Language can reveal hidden motives.

Where it applies

  • law school discussion
  • writing analysis
  • political speech critique

Putting it to work

  • examine word choice for bias
  • use precise language

Questions to consider

  • When do words become incriminating?
  • How can we guard against misinterpretation?

Another view

Metaphor may overstate the literal evidentiary power of words.

More from Henrik Ibsen

  1. Tabets alt din vinding skabte - Evigt ejes kun det tabte!

    Permalink to quote #2
  2. Peer, du lyver!

    Permalink to quote #3
  3. Om jeg hamrer eller hamres, ligefuldt sa skal der jamres!

    Permalink to quote #4

Related quotes

  1. Why should it not be the whole function of a word to denote many things? --Austin, Papers 38.

    J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin quote #2
  2. A phrase begins life as a literary expression; its felicity leads to its lazy repetition; and repetition soon establishes it as a legal formula, undiscriminati…

    Felix FrankfurterFelix Frankfurter quote #4
  3. It is amusing to discover, in the twentieth century, that the quarrels between two lovers, two mathematicians, two nations, two economic systems, usually assum…

    Alfred KorzybskiAlfred Korzybski quote #13