QuoteProject
A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.
Mark Twain
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

People often dismiss or ridicule new ideas until they prove to be successful.

This quote by Mark Twain reflects the initial skepticism that often surrounds innovative thoughts. It highlights how society tends to label those who propose unconventional ideas as 'cranks' or outliers until their ideas are validated by success, illustrating the resistance to change and the value of persistent belief in one’s vision despite potential ridicule.

Themes

InnovationSuccessSkepticismIdeasChange

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about entrepreneurship, one can use this quote to encourage aspiring innovators to persevere despite initial criticism.

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

Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
I try to teach through my opinions, through my speeches, how wrong it is to judge people on the basis of what they look like, color of their skin, whether they're men or women.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.
Samuel JohnsonRead
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.
Benjamin FranklinRead
The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
Injury in general teaches you to appreciate every moment. I've had my share of injuries throughout my career. It's humbling. It gives you perspective. No matter how many times I've been hurt, I've learned from that injury and come back even more humble.
Troy PolamaluRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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