Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
We don't cut up when mad men are bred by the old legitimate regular stock religions, but we can't allow wildcat religions to indulge in such disastrous experiments.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the dangers of unregulated beliefs while acknowledging the flaws in traditional religions.
Mark Twain highlights the perils of extreme or unconventional beliefs ('wildcat religions') that can lead to disastrous outcomes, contrasting them with established religions that may also foster negative behaviors. The quote suggests that while we cannot condone harmful practices stemming from established belief systems, we must also be wary of allowing fringe beliefs to proliferate unchecked, as they can lead to chaos and harm.
Themes
ReligionBeliefsChaosPhilosophyTradition
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about the role of religion in society.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes βThe 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
Money isn't automatically freedom. You need to look carefully at what you're doing to earn the money before you can conclude that you are, in practice, free. This is a cost-benefit analysis we should all perform on our own lives.
John LanchesterRead
Objectivity is impossible and it is also undesirable. That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way; should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way, then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think will advance causes of humanity.
Howard ZinnRead
Global markets must be balanced by global values such as respect for human rights and international law, democracy, security and sustainable economic and environmental development.
Anna LindhRead
When you once see something as false which you have accepted as true, as natural, as human, then you can never go back to it.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead
Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion has to form in the social life of man.
Albert EinsteinRead
Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived.
Sissela BokRead