QuoteProject
There is nothing like instances to grow hair on a bald-headed argument.
Mark Twain
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that only specific examples can effectively strengthen a weak argument.

Mark Twain humorously points out that abstract arguments often lack substance and that tangible examples are essential for bolstering claims. The phrase 'instances to grow hair on a bald-headed argument' evokes the image of an argument so lacking in support that it resembles a bald head, and highlights the necessity of concrete evidence to make any point credible and compelling.

Themes

ArgumentsEvidenceExamplesHumorPersuasion

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a debate to emphasize the importance of supporting arguments with real-life examples.

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

Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands upon the ship.
Jonathan SwiftRead
Their demeanor is invariably morose, sullen, clownish and repulsive. I should think there is not, on the face of the earth, a people so entirely destitute of humor, vivacity, or the capacity for enjoyment.
Charles DickensRead
MERCY, n. An attribute beloved of detected offenders.
Ambrose BierceRead
Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected. So it goes.
Kurt VonnegutRead
In my youth there were words you couldn't say in front of a girl; now you can't say 'girl.'
Tom LehrerRead
A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.
Robert A. HeinleinRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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

Quote by Mark Twain | QuoteProject