Function

Famous quotes containing the word function:

    Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.
    Frank Smith (b. 1928)

    Think of the tools in a tool-box: there is a hammer, pliers, a saw, a screwdriver, a rule, a glue-pot, nails and screws.—The function of words are as diverse as the functions of these objects.
    Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)

    To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art; men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.
    —E.M. (Edward Morgan)