--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God draweth straight lines but we call…" description: "\"God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked.\" — Horace Mann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png" --- # God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked. ![“God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked.” quote by Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png) > “God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked.” [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often label natural tendencies as flawed due to societal bias. **In simple terms:** Society mislabels natural traits. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about norms. Themes bias perception norms Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - workplace - media - personal relationships Key Concepts social psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What biases affect your judgments? - When have you misjudged a natural trait? A Different Perspective Not all deviations are negative; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Straight line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-line/) ## Related quotes > [Try not to make a straight line crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/try-not-to-make-a-straight-line-crooked/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) > [A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/a-man-does-not-call-a-line-crooked-unless-he-has-some-idea-of-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [When you are in the line of your duty, it is like standing in front of a line of posts, and every post is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heber-j-grant/when-you-are-in-the-line-of-your-duty-it-is-like-standing-in-front-of/) [Heber J. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heber-j-grant/) > [Truth can hardly be expected to adapt herself to the crooked policy and wily sinuosities of worldly affairs; for truth, like light, travels only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/truth-can-hardly-be-expected-to-adapt-herself-to-the-crooked-policy/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/my-argument-against-god-was-that-the-universe-seemed-so-cruel-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Truth is the shortest and nearest way to our end, carrying us thither in a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tillotson/truth-is-the-shortest-and-nearest-way-to-our-end-carrying-us-thither/) [John Tillotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tillotson/) > [Straight lines vary only in length, and therefore are least ornamental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hogarth/straight-lines-vary-only-in-length-and-therefore-are-least-ornamental/) [William Hogarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hogarth/) > [Revenge is never a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hattori-hanzo/revenge-is-never-a-straight-line/) Hattori Hanzo > [Nowhere is it ordained that history moves in a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/nowhere-is-it-ordained-that-history-moves-in-a-straight-line/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I can't draw a straight line to save my life. I just can't draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-courtney/i-can-t-draw-a-straight-line-to-save-my-life-i-just-can-t-draw/) [Joel Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-courtney/) > [There's no straight line to progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/there-s-no-straight-line-to-progress/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [When you organize your work and look back at your entire production, it may feel like you're looking at a straight line, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vik-muniz/when-you-organize-your-work-and-look-back-at-your-entire-production/) [Vik Muniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vik-muniz/) > [The song of the curved line is called happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-crevel/the-song-of-the-curved-line-is-called-happiness/) [Rene Crevel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-crevel/) > [A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-circle-is-a-round-straight-line-with-a-hole-in-the-middle/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More by Horace Mann > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The earth endured Christ's ministry only three years;--not three weeks after his real character and purposes were generally known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-earth-endured-christ-s-ministry-only-three-years-not-three-weeks/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [If evil is inevitable, how are the wicked accountable? Nay, why do we call men wicked at all? Evil is inevitable, but is also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/if-evil-is-inevitable-how-are-the-wicked-accountable-nay-why-do-we/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The soul of the truly benevolent man does not seem to reside much in his own body. Its life, to a great extent, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-soul-of-the-truly-benevolent-man-does-not-seem-to-reside-much-in/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The pulpit only "teaches" to be honest; the market-place "trains" to overreaching and fraud; and teaching has not a tithe of the efficiency of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-pulpit-only-teaches-to-be-honest-the-market-place-trains-to/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [On entering this world our starting-point is ignorance. None, however, but idiots remain there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/on-entering-this-world-our-starting-point-is-ignorance-none-however/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [So, in the infinitely nobler battle in which you are engaged against error and wrong, if ever repulsed or stricken down, may you always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/so-in-the-infinitely-nobler-battle-in-which-you-are-engaged-against/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [We conceive of immortality as having a beginning, but no end; but we conceive of eternity as having neither beginning nor end. Hence it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/we-conceive-of-immortality-as-having-a-beginning-but-no-end-but-we/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [In our country and in our times no man is worthy the honored name of statesman who does not include the highest practicable education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/in-our-country-and-in-our-times-no-man-is-worthy-the-honored-name-of/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Genius may conceive but patient labor must consummate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/genius-may-conceive-but-patient-labor-must-consummate/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Even the choicest literature should be taken as the condiment, and not as the sustenance of life. It should be neither the warp nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/even-the-choicest-literature-should-be-taken-as-the-condiment-and-not/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Of all "rights" which command attention at the present time among us, woman's rights seem to take precedence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/of-all-rights-which-command-attention-at-the-present-time-among-us/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [After a child has arrived at the legal age for attending school,-whether he be the child of noble or of peasant,-the only two absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/after-a-child-has-arrived-at-the-legal-age-for-attending-school/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Let the Common School be expanded to its capabilities, let it be worked with the efficiency of which it is susceptible, and nine tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/let-the-common-school-be-expanded-to-its-capabilities-let-it-be/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Resistance to improvement contradicts the noblest instincts of the race. It begets its opposite. The fanaticism of reform is only the raging of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/resistance-to-improvement-contradicts-the-noblest-instincts-of-the/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Explore all 191 Horace Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) ## More Crooked quotes > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [Hey Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-sydney-she-said-giving-me-a-small-crooked-smile-as-she-entered/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I have crooked toes from wearing boots that didn't fit me because that's all I could afford as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-have-crooked-toes-from-wearing-boots-that-didn-t-fit-me-because/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [When I meet a new person, something has to be a little off for me to consider them beautiful. It could be crooked teeth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/when-i-meet-a-new-person-something-has-to-be-a-little-off-for-me-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [The habit of taking the line of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-habit-of-taking-the-line-of-least-resistance-makes-all-rivers-and/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body, skins and moles and old scars, secret and public hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-support-all-people-on-earth-who-have-bodies-like-and-unlike-my-body/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“He is crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/he-is-crooked-enough-to-hide-behind-a-spiral-staircase/) Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball > [I'm talkin' about a good girl gone bad crooked world, wrong path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-talkin-about-a-good-girl-gone-bad-crooked-world-wrong-path/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like to look at myself in the mirror, which is why my eye makeup is always crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-guinness/i-don-t-like-to-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-which-is-why-my-eye/) [Daphne Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-guinness/) > [The desires of the heart...are as crooked as a corkscrew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/the-desires-of-the-heart-are-as-crooked-as-a-corkscrew/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [ “CLOV \[sadly\] No one that ever lived ever thought so crooked as we.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/clov-sadly-no-one-that-ever-lived-ever-thought-so-crooked-as-we/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Washington has a mysterious power to turn perfectly reasonable, wholesome, well-meaning human beings into equivocating crooked gasbags.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harsanyi/washington-has-a-mysterious-power-to-turn-perfectly-reasonable/) [David Harsanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harsanyi/) > [John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/john-kerry-described-his-republican-critics-as-the-most-crooked-lying/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [The privilege of ruling would be in the hands of the skilled and the learned, with a wide scope left for profitable crooked deals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/the-privilege-of-ruling-would-be-in-the-hands-of-the-skilled-and-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) Browse all 376 Crooked quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace Mann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-them-crooked/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crooked" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-them-crooked/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/horace-mann-2022_crooked_god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-t_2559202.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“God draweth straight lines but we call them crooked.” — Horace Mann", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Horace Mann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "God draweth straight lines but we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-them-crooked/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/god-draweth-straight-lines-but-we-call-them-crooked/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```