Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Mark Twain asserts that nature is not indecent; indecency is a human invention.
- In plain terms
- Nature has no indecencies; people create them.
- What can you take from it?
- Moral judgments often stem from human constructs, not the natural world.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we distinguish natural from cultural taboos?
- Can indecency be truly objective?
Another view
Some argue that natural behaviors can be deemed indecent by societies.
More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
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