The Meaning of Mark Twain’s Quotes

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, then it’s time to pause and reflect. Samuel Clemens commonly known as Mark Twain developed this quote. The quote depicts the notion that the majority is not always right. The quote, however, doesn’t mean the majority is always wrong. The quotes primary meaning is that the fact that a good number of people are doing something doesn’t justify it to be right. The issue of right and wrong should not be based on the numbers supporting or opposing the problem. The essence of this quote is to encourage the audience to stand out from the popular majority. Human being are different from each other therefore having a different line of thought is in one’s nature. Mark observes that compromising one’s happiness to remain within the majority’s way of reasoning is a weakness.

Essence of the quote

The majority have a singularized way of reasoning which unprogressive. Every person has the right to have his/her voice heard, to give rise to new ideas and to caution the logic of the majority. Following the majority blindly leads to many people living a meaningless life. Being different grants an individual opportunity to exploit live fully. Living under the umbrella of the majority is seen by Mark is a cowardly act and the cause of much unhappiness situations in peoples live. The essence of this quote is to discourage people from trying to live in their lives for others but instead live for themselves. The only way to creating live purpose is by stopping to copy other people but instead standing out alone.  The meaning of this quote, therefore, is that deciding to follow the majority is deciding to fail. Human beings are always concerned about how others think about them since this affects their social interaction within the social set up. This quote can be taken to mean that, one does not require the majority’s approval to achieve live success.

The meaning of the quote based on spiritualism and materialism

 The essence of this quote to the theme is shedding light on the way forward. Materialism and spiritualism are two distinct approaches to viewing and understanding live. These two approaches tend to affect human being way of thinking and also changes the evaluation perspectives. Materialism is seen as perceiving happiness as a function of the material gain. The people with this perspective believe that to acquire live happiness they ought to possess a lot of material things. Spiritualism, on the other hand, is based on a belief that to achieve live happiness one ought to take care of their souls well. Under this a man delight to come from the satisfaction of his/her soul. Based on this quote many people in the world choose to follow materialism approach in seeking live fulfillment and happiness. The majority, therefore, tend to dictate that materialism is the way out. Following the majority at this point would mean that an individual gives up on spiritual matters and supports the materialist approach to live. Philosophers have concluded that, despite there is no physical proof of Gods existence, there must have an unmoved mover. Following the materialist approach, therefore, means giving up on the quest for spiritual understanding. According to his quote, therefore, to be on the right track one has to avoid the majorities thinking the approach and instead embrace the side of the minority. The essence of this quote to the theme of the study is that spiritualism is the way that any person seeking to be different ought to follow (Lindgren and Carl Edwin 8) Spiritualist believe that to acquire a stable material base an individual has first to be well rooted spiritually. Spiritualist are bound to first seeking the giver- a supernatural being in this case, then finding what they are seeking latter. Materialism and spiritualism are issues worth much more discussion. Based on the Twain quote, therefore, one ought to evaluate on which side he/she is the side on which the majority are. In case one finds himself/herself on the side of the majority then there is a need to reevaluate their stand.

The wording of this quote

The author selection of the words was strategic to relaying his intended message. The quote structure puts the emphasis, not on either group of belonging but to the individuals. The quote doesn’t mean that the majority is wrong but after rethinking if the individual has the final judgment.  According to this quote, the minority groups are also not justified as being right, but one evaluation remains final.

Illustration of the quote and a metaphor

 In the quest to seek democracy in most countries the citizens are involved in the casting of votes in selecting their leaders. Despite the democratic approach to choosing these leaders many countries suffer from poor leadership. The implication of this scenario is that; the majority were wrong in their evaluation, and the minority was right. Another situation to give out the other meaning of this quote is in consideration of the many minority terror groups worldwide. Under this scenario, the implication is that the majority is right. 

In conclusion, to acquire equal social representation, the majority should have their way and the minority their say. The quote overs proper grounds for evaluation and personal monitoring to ensure deviations are noted and rectified.

Work Cited

Lindgren and Carl Edwin. Spiritualism: Innocent Beliefs to Scientific Curiosity. Journal of Religion and Psychical Research. January 1994. 17 (1): 8–15