QuoteProject
In religion and politics, people's belief's and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination
Mark Twain
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

People often adopt beliefs in religion and politics without critical examination, relying on what others say.

Mark Twain highlights a critical observation about human behavior regarding beliefs in religion and politics. He suggests that many people hold their convictions not based on personal examination or understanding, but rather on what they have heard from others, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and independent thought in shaping one's beliefs.

Themes

BeliefsPoliticsReligionExaminationCritical Thinking

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about political ideologies, one could reference Twain's quote to encourage others to think critically about their beliefs.

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

Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less. These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, Now.
Eckhart TolleRead
If you keep on buying things made by child slaves in such conditions, you are equally responsible for the perpetration of slavery.
Kailash SatyarthiRead
In many ways, astrology, numerology and palmistry are corruptions of the occult because they have attempted to make a practice out of something that is essentially imaginative.
Isaac Bashevis SingerRead
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, we have always felt that there was a close relationship between a strong, vital mind and physical fitness.
John F. KennedyRead
Ask yourself: What did I eat for breakfast today? What did I eat for dinner last night? You see how fast reality fades away?
Chuck PalahniukRead
Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.
George OrwellRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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