The very fact that I need to know it in particular is what makes me need to know it negatively.

认识一件事物需要知道,它不是什么。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

And I'm fascinated by the way that even at that elemental point, the religions come in, and like the Tower Babel confuse our speech.

我还为一件事物着迷,那就是宗教最初产生的时候，就像巴别塔扰乱了我们的语言。

普林斯顿公开课 - 人性课程节选

Egypt being the best example, so that no longer was war possible, but the flip side of that is, there was also another thing that was impossible -- freedom.

埃及就是最好的例证,所以当和平年代到来时,其对立面必然显现,即总有另一件事物,变得难以实现,那就是自由

耶鲁公开课 - 古希腊历史简介课程节选

If it were all the things that it's not, or if it were identical to all the things that somehow or another it's not, then I would be in a very difficult situation because I wouldn't have any means of knowing it in particular.

如果一件事就是它自身的反面，或者和其他的事物没有区分之处,那么我们，就很难认识它,因为我们没有办法认识它。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选