"Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass. Philosophers and linguists have always agreed in recognizing that without the help of signs we would be unable to make a clear-cut, consistent distinction between two ideas. Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula. here are no pre-existing ideas, and nothing is distinct before the appearance of language."

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Original Language: English

Sources

p. 111-112

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure