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PART II

by indifferently. For instance, when we let the sea lie before us as it lies, we, in λέγειν, are already engaged in keeping in mind and heart what lies before us. We have already taken to heart what lies before us. Λέγειν is tacitly disposed to νοεῖν.

Conversely, νοεῖν always remains a λέγειν. When we take to heart what lies before us, we take it as it is lying. By taking to heart and mind, we gather and focus ourselves on what lies before us, and gather what we have taken to heart. Whence do we gather it? Where else but to itself, so that it may become manifest such as it of itself lies before us. The language of the saying is indeed exceedingly careful. It does not just tie λέγειν to νοεῖν by a mere καί, "and"; rather, the saying runs: τὸ λέγειν τε νοεῖν τε. This τε—τε has a reflexive meaning, and says: the letting-lie-before-us and the taking-to-heart enter upon and into one another, in a give-and-take. The relation between λέγειν and νοεῖν is not a patchwork of things and attitudes otherwise alien to each other. The relation is a conjunction, and what is joined here is, each of itself, related to, that is, connatural with the other. Accordingly, we translate τὸ λέγειν τε νοεῖν τε: the letting-lie-before-us such (as this), the taking-to-heart too (such as the other). (3) This translation does not just bring out more appropriately the meaning of the two words λέγειν and νοεῖν; it alone makes the entire saying audible in what it says. The saying does not presuppose what is called thinking, but first indicates the fundamental traits of what subsequently defines itself as thinking. The conjunction of λέγειν and νοεῖν first announces what is called thinking. The possible restriction of thinking, to the concept of thinking established by logic, is here only in preparation. Λέγειν and νοεῖν, both by virtue of their conjunction, achieve what later, and only for a short time, is specifically called ἀληθεύειν: to disclose and keep disclosed what is unconcealed.

The veiled nature of λέγειν and νοεῖν lies in this, that


Martin Heidegger (GA 8) What Is Called Thinking?