Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
Leaving out the gamblers, the burglars, and the plumbers, perhaps we do put our trust in God after a fashion. But, after all, it is an overstatement. If the cholera or black plague should come to these shores, perhaps the bulk of the nation would pray to be delivered from it, but the rest would put their trust in The Health Board.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on human trust, suggesting that in dire situations, people rely more on institutions than on faith.
Mark Twain's quote addresses the nature of trust, pointing out that while many people may profess a belief in divine intervention, in moments of crisis, their inclination is often to depend on practical, earthly solutions. He contrasts the tendency to pray during a crisis, like an epidemic, with the likelihood of trusting public health authorities instead, highlighting a skepticism about purely spiritual reliance in the face of real-world challenges.
Themes
TrustFaithCrisisRelianceHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about public health policies, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of scientific trust.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes →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
People now live their lives like an open wound to be famous - they do bad things because they're rewarded for it.
Ricky GervaisRead
Youth loves honor and victory more than money.
AristotleRead
There are no experts in the company of Jesus. We are all beginners, necessarily followers, because we don’t know where we are going.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
A state arises,as I conceive,out of the needs of mankind;no one is self-sufficing,but all of us have many wants
PlatoRead
The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller.
P. T. BarnumRead
Everything happens kind of the way it's supposed to happen, and we just watch it unfold. And you can't control it. Looking back, you can't say, "I should've..." You didn't, and had you, the outcome would have been different.
Rick RubinRead