# Quote — Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct

> The idea that thought is the same thing as language is an example of what can be called a conventional absurdity: a statement that goes against all common sense but that everyone believes because they dimly recall having heard it somewhere and because it is so pregnant with implications.

- Author: [Steven Pinker](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-pinker.md)
- Book: [The Language Instinct](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-pinker/the-language-instinct.md)
- Page: 57
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Pinker#The_Language_Instinct_(1994)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-pinker/the-language-instinct/the-idea-that