QuoteProject
When majority is insane, sane must go to asylum.
Mark Twain
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that in a society where the majority holds irrational beliefs, those who think rationally may feel out of place.

Mark Twain's quote highlights the irony of societal norms where majority opinions can often be disconnected from reason or truth. It underscores the discomfort faced by individuals who maintain a clear and rational perspective in a world that may often celebrate irrationality. Therefore, the quote encourages reflection on the nature of sanity and societal values, contemplating how often society misinterprets or marginalizes rational thought.

Themes

SanityMajorityInsanitySocietyReasonTruth

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate on public policy, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of questioning popular opinions.

More from Mark Twain

Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
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.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
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.
Mark TwainRead

Similar quotes

The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts.
Haruki MurakamiRead
We are living in the era of premeditation and the perfect crime. Our criminals are no longer helpless children who could plead love as their excuse. On the contrary, they are adults and the have the perfect alibi: philosophy, which can be used for any purpose - even for transforming murderers into judges.
Albert CamusRead
But like infection is the petty thought: it creeps and hides, and wants to be nowhere--until the whole body is decayed and withered by the petty infection... Thus spoke Zarathustra.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognised as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity.
Pope FrancisRead
Freedom is the one value conservatives place above all others, yet time and again, their ideal of freedom ignores the growing imbalance of power in our society that's eroding the freedoms of most people.
Robert ReichRead
Heaven's Way gives no favors. It always remains with good people.
LaoziRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Mark Twain | QuoteProject