QuoteProject
I cannot see how a man of any large degree of humorous perception can ever be religious -- unless he purposely shut the eyes of his mind & keep them shut by force.
Mark Twain
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Humor and religion seem to be at odds, suggesting that a person who truly understands humor may struggle to accept religious beliefs.

Mark Twain's quote suggests that an individual who possesses a significant awareness of humor and its often absurd nature might find it difficult to fully embrace religious faith. The implication is that recognizing life's ironies and contradictions often leads to questioning and skepticism towards traditional beliefs, as one might have to ignore their critical thinking to accept religious dogma.

Themes

HumorReligionPerceptionBeliefSkepticism

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate on faith and humor, one could cite this quote to illustrate the conflict between serious belief and the acknowledgement of life's absurdities.

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

There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
Noam ChomskyRead
Only man is permitted to live without rhythm in order that he can become free. However, he must of his own accord bring rhythm again into the chaos.
Rudolf SteinerRead
The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.
Herbert MarcuseRead
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
Lord ActonRead
Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.
Ayn RandRead
I think that there are real concerns that we have around whose life is important and why. So if the official story is, for example, somebody was running from the police, does their life matter?
Alicia GarzaRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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