Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance.
Samuel ButlerRead
The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the critical role of the media in fostering critical thinking and skepticism among the audience.
Samuel Butler's quote highlights the essential function of the press and magazines in not just conveying information, but also in educating readers to critically evaluate the content they consume. By encouraging a healthy skepticism towards printed material, the media empowers individuals to discern truth from misinformation, thus fostering a more informed and critical populace.
Themes
MediaEducationSkepticismPressCritical Thinking
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on media literacy, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of critical engagement with news.
More from Samuel Butler
All quotes βTo know God better is only to realize how impossible it is that we should ever know him at all. I know not which is more childish to deny him, or define him.
Samuel ButlerRead
Academic and aristocratic people live in such an uncommon atmosphere that common sense can rarely reach them.
Samuel ButlerRead
An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.
Samuel ButlerRead
Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances.
Samuel ButlerRead
People care more about being thought to have taste than about being thought either good, clever or amiable.
Samuel ButlerRead
Similar quotes
We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.
B. F. SkinnerRead
We owe our children β the most vulnerable citizens in any society β a life free from violence and fear.
Nelson MandelaRead
The competitions between fiction and nonfiction, short and long, electronic and paper, are not battles in which there can be only one victor. After all, we exist in a world where more kinds of writing than ever are greeted with interest and enthusiasm.
Celeste NgRead
The purpose of education...is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions.
James A. BaldwinRead
We human beings were never born to read; we invented reading and then had to teach it to every new generation. Each new reader comes to reading with a 'fresh' brain - one that is programmed to speak, see, and think, but not to read.
Maryanne WolfRead
With the states release today of a set of clear and consistent academic standards, our nation is one step closer to supporting effective teaching in every classroom, charting a path to college and careers for all students, and developing the tools to help all children stay motivated and engaged in their own education. The more states that adopt these college and career based standards, the closer we will be to sharing innovation across state borders and becoming more competitive as a country.
Bill GatesRead