…when a philosopher speaks of the ‘concept’ of matter, or the ‘concept’ of cause, or any other ‘concept,’ what he means by a ‘concept’ is a word or other legisign. Hence it has been justly said that the entire purport of any concept lies in the character of the actions or external effects which it is calculated to produce or bring about. It is just that maxim and nothing else that properly goes by the name of pragmatism.
From a likely discarded variant
http://www.commens.org/dictionary/entry/quote-draft-nichols-review-c-7