Metaphors We Live By Quotes by George Lakoff

Lakoff reminds us that metaphors are the fundamental building blocks we use to make sense of our world and provide a framework for acting in the world

We automatically think in metaphors. We talk of ideas as illuminating and bright, fizzing and incisive, or flat and dull. We see our world in spatial terms—rising and falling, moving forward or back. We speak metaphorically, too—we ‘ride’ bicycles, though not cars; we ‘harness’ ideas to a new purpose; we let our imaginations ‘take flight’. Biologic

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Metaphors are (metaphorically) woven into the fabric of our language and thought, shaping how we grasp and articulate abstract concepts. We should therefore feel free to prudently explore alternative metaphors and judge whether they perform better. A collective effort to notice and change the metaphors we use has enormous potential to reduce indivi... See more

Neuroscientists are building a powerful case that metaphor is far more important to human cognition than has ever been imagined. Many argue it’s the fundamental way that brains understand abstract concepts, such as love, joy, society and economy. It’s simply not possible to comprehend these ideas in any useful sense, then, without attaching them to

... See more

Neuroscientists are building a powerful case that metaphor is far more important to human cognition than has ever been imagined. Many argue it’s the fundamental way that brains understand abstract concepts, such as love, joy, society and economy. It’s simply not possible to comprehend these ideas in any useful sense, then, without attaching them to... See more