Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Mysticism concerns existence itself rather than the details of the world.
In plain terms
The mystical is about that the world exists, not what it is like.
What can you take from it?
Wonder at existence is deeper than analyzing facts.

Where it applies

  • contemplation
  • spirituality
  • philosophy

Putting it to work

  • focus on existence
  • appreciate reality

Questions to consider

  • Does the fact that the world exists feel miraculous to you?
  • What matters more: how the world is or that it is?

Another view

It dismisses the value of exploring the world's specific mysteries.

More from Ludwig Wittgenstein

  1. The logic of the world is prior to all truth and falsehood.

    Permalink to quote #131

  2. The real discovery is the one which enables me to stop doing philosophy when I want to. The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented …

    Permalink to quote #133

  3. The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.

    Permalink to quote #130

Related quotes

  1. It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists. (6.44)

    Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig Wittgenstein quote #31

  2. It is not in the world of ideas that life is lived. Life is lived for better or worse in life, and to a man in life, his life can be no more absurd than it can…

    Archibald MacLeishArchibald MacLeish quote #1

  3. There comes a point when a dream becomes reality and reality becomes a dream.

    Frances FarmerFrances Farmer quote #3