Philosophical problems can be compared to locks on safes, which can be opened by dialing a certain word or number, so that no force can open the door until just this word has been hit upon, and once it is hit upon any child can open it.

— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Occasions 1912-1951 (1993)

Also a c. 1930 conversation, recorded by Rush Rhees in Personal Recollections (1981).

Topics: philosophy