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About this quote

What does it mean?
The author criticizes readers for laziness and lack of knowledge.
In plain terms
Many readers are lazy and don't know much.
What can you take from it?
Audiences often lack engagement or knowledge.

Where it applies

  • public speaking
  • writing
  • education

Putting it to work

  • tailor to audience level
  • encourage critical reading

Questions to consider

  • What makes a good reader?
  • How do you engage lazy audiences?

Another view

This view is elitist and dismissive of diverse readers.

More from William Cobbett

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  2. As to politics, we were like the rest of the country people in England; that is to say, we neither knew nor thought any thing about the matter.

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  3. Another great evil arising from this desire to be thought rich; or rather, from the desire not to be thought poor, is the destructive thing which has been hono…

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