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Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.
Mark Twain
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Censorship restricts access to information for everyone based on the limitations of a few.

Mark Twain's quote reflects the absurdity of censorship by illustrating that it is unreasonable to deny access to certain knowledge or experiences for all, just because some may be unable to handle it. The quote emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression and the right to access information, suggesting that restrictions should not be imposed based on the inability of a minority to understand or cope with it.

Themes

CensorshipFreedomExpressionInformationAccess

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about media freedom, one might say, 'As Mark Twain pointed out, censorship is like denying a steak to an adult because a baby can't chew it.'

More from Mark Twain

Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
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The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
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You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
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To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
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Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
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In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
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