Kongen og Dronningen, Bispen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

What do I know about God and the purpose of life?

Snebrae at Advent Bay, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

I know that this world exists.

Midnight sun at Advent Bay, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

That I am placed in it like my eye in its visual field.

The Isefiorden, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

That something about it is problematic, which we call its meaning.

Drifting ice, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

This meaning does not lie in it but outside of it.

Smeerenburg at Danskerne, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

That life is the world.

Rjukanfos, Telemarken, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

That my will penetrates the world.

Boiumsbrae, Sognefjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

That my will is good or evil.

Grotto in Suphellebrae, Sognefjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Therefore that good and evil are somehow connected with the meaning of the world.

Midnight sun, Bell Sound, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The meaning of life, i.e. the meaning of the world, we can call God.

Buierbrae Glacier, Odde, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

To pray is to think about the meaning of life.

Silvefos, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

I cannot bend the happenings of the world to my will: I am completely powerless.

Vorinfos, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

I can only make myself independent of the world -- and so in a certain sense master it -- by renouncing any influence on happenings. (11 June 1916)

Praekestolen, Geiranger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The world is independent of my will. (5 July 1916)

Loen, Kjendalskronebrae, Nordfjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The World and Life are one. (24 July 1916)

Stalheimsfos, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Wittgenstein’s house near Skjolden, Sogneflord, Norway, 1914

Wittgenstein’s house near Skjolden, Sogneflord, Norway: photo reconstruction by AJP Crown, via A Bad Guide, 26 May 2010

This post dedicated to AJP Crown

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Notebooks 1914-1916 (excerpts), translated by G.E.M. Anscombe, 1961