#Quote

Nearly all institutions, it might be said, are based on signs, but these signs do not directly evoke things.

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More Quotes by Ferdinand de Saussure
It is only since linguistics has become more aware of its object of study, i.e. perceives the whole extent of it, that it is evident that this science can make a contribution to a range of studies that will be of interest to almost anyone.
In general, the philological movement opened up countless sources relevant to linguistic issues, treating them in quite a different spirit from traditional grammar; for instance, the study of inscriptions and their language. But not yet in the spirit of linguistics.
Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law.
Linguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one branch of languages or another.
Of all social institutions language is least amenable to initiative. It blends with the life of society, and the latter, inert by nature, is a prime conservative force.
A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas.
Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.
Henceforth, language studies were no longer directed merely towards correcting grammar.
A language presupposes that all the individual users possess the organs.