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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker admires the calm confidence that comes from religious faith, likening it to a gambler’s certainty with a good hand.
In plain terms
Faith gives people a steady, confident calm.
What can you take from it?
Recognize how belief can provide inner peace.

Where it applies

  • personal reflection
  • interfaith dialogue

Putting it to work

  • cultivate personal belief
  • observe calm in believers

Questions to consider

  • What sources of confidence do non‑believers have?
  • Can calm be achieved without faith?

Another view

It idealizes faith without acknowledging doubt or negative aspects.

More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  1. Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

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  2. The catfish is a plenty good enough fish for anyone.

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  3. Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.

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