I feel ruefully sure, also, that one must be at least one sort of fool to rush in over ground so well trodden by the angels.

It should be quite clear, then, that there are no criteria to be laid down in general for distinguishing the real from the not real.

After all we speak of people 'taking refuge' in vagueness -the more precise you are, in general the more likely you are to be wrong, whereas you stand a good chance of not being wrong if you make it vague enough.

Is it true or false that Belfast is north of London? That the galaxy is the shape of a fried egg? That Beethoven was a drunkard? That Wellington won the battle of Waterloo? There are various degrees and dimensions of success in making statements: the statements fit the facts always more or less loosely, in different ways on different occasions for different intents and purposes.

Going back into the history of a word, very often into Latin, we come back pretty commonly to pictures or models of how things happen or are done.

Fact is richer than diction.

A sentence is made up of words, a statement is made in words.... Statements are made, words or sentences are used.