"Corn-Pone Opinions" by Mark Twain
Important quotes
“You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is. (…) The black philosopher’s idea was that a man is not independent, and cannot afford views which might interfere with his bread and butter. (…) He must get his opinions from other people; he must reason out none for himself; he must hae no first-hand views.”
- What is corn pone? What does Twain mean by Corn-Pone Opinions?
- “bread and butter” First frustrating discussion, culture building
“I am persuaded that a coldly-thought-out and independent verdict… is a most rare thing – if it has indeed ever existed.”
- He doesn’t believe in original opinions, neither as independent ones.
“It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist. What is its seat? The inborn requirement of self-approval. We all have to bow to that; there are no exceptions. (…) But as a rule of self-approval has its source in but one place and not elsewhere – the approval of other people.”
“(…) the general world will presently adopt it – moved to do it, in the first place, by the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority, and in the second place by the human instinct to train with the multitude and have its approval.”
- Traditional schools, always seeking for authorities, what is the MPC? Why are we here? Do we always see this even at the MPC? What are the consequences of doing or not doing it?
“We are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate.” “The outside influences are always pouring in upon us, and we are always obeying their orders and accepting their verdicts.”
“We know it is a matter of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination (…) Broadly speaking, there are non but corn-pone opinions… corn-pone stands for self-approval… The result is conformity. (…) it is born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise.”
- He believes that the self-approval comes from the approval of other people, thus it is our nature is to conform to the general opinion and render to it.
- We are beings of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination. He says:
“”He’s on the right track!” Uttered, perhaps by an ass, but still an ass of high degree, an ass whose approval is gold and diamonds to a smaller ass, and confers glory and honor and happiness, and membership in the herd.”
- Self-Reliance
“We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation, which we consider a boon. Its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it the Voice of God.”
Other Commentaries
- Why is this a posthumous essay? Was Twain afraid of his self-approval and by consequence, the approval of others?
- Is Twain being ironic along all of this essay?
“You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is. (…) The black philosopher’s idea was that a man is not independent, and cannot afford views which might interfere with his bread and butter. (…) He must get his opinions from other people; he must reason out none for himself; he must hae no first-hand views.”
- What is corn pone? What does Twain mean by Corn-Pone Opinions?
- “bread and butter” First frustrating discussion, culture building
“I am persuaded that a coldly-thought-out and independent verdict… is a most rare thing – if it has indeed ever existed.”
- He doesn’t believe in original opinions, neither as independent ones.
“It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist. What is its seat? The inborn requirement of self-approval. We all have to bow to that; there are no exceptions. (…) But as a rule of self-approval has its source in but one place and not elsewhere – the approval of other people.”
“(…) the general world will presently adopt it – moved to do it, in the first place, by the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority, and in the second place by the human instinct to train with the multitude and have its approval.”
- Traditional schools, always seeking for authorities, what is the MPC? Why are we here? Do we always see this even at the MPC? What are the consequences of doing or not doing it?
“We are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate.” “The outside influences are always pouring in upon us, and we are always obeying their orders and accepting their verdicts.”
“We know it is a matter of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination (…) Broadly speaking, there are non but corn-pone opinions… corn-pone stands for self-approval… The result is conformity. (…) it is born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise.”
- He believes that the self-approval comes from the approval of other people, thus it is our nature is to conform to the general opinion and render to it.
- We are beings of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination. He says:
“”He’s on the right track!” Uttered, perhaps by an ass, but still an ass of high degree, an ass whose approval is gold and diamonds to a smaller ass, and confers glory and honor and happiness, and membership in the herd.”
- Self-Reliance
“We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation, which we consider a boon. Its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it the Voice of God.”
Other Commentaries
- Why is this a posthumous essay? Was Twain afraid of his self-approval and by consequence, the approval of others?
- Is Twain being ironic along all of this essay?