---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A wise man has told us that \"men are once…"
description: "\"A wise man has told us that \"men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in and live in.\"\" — Jane Addams"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png"
---

#  A wise man has told us that "men are once for all so made…

![“A wise man has told us that &quot;men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in and live in.&quot;” quote by Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png)

> “A wise man has told us that "men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in and live in."”

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People are naturally inclined toward rationality and seek a logical world to inhabit.

**In simple terms:** Humans prefer reason and order.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate rational thinking.

Themes

philosophy human nature reason

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

- education
- policy making
- community organizing
- personal growth

Key Concepts

rationalism idealism social reform

Questions to Reflect On

- How do emotions influence rational decisions?
- Can societies balance reason and feeling?

A Different Perspective

Rational preferences may clash with emotional realities.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-man/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [A wise man once told me, don't argue with fools, because it's hard to tell who is who from a distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexgman/a-wise-man-once-told-me-don-t-argue-with-fools-because-it-s-hard-to/)

[AlexGman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexgman/)

> [A wise man told me don't argue with fools. Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/a-wise-man-told-me-don-t-argue-with-fools-cause-people-from-a/)

[Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/)

> [Every sane person has to find every day some manner of accommodating the impossible, some way of covering up for the failures of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-boswell/every-sane-person-has-to-find-every-day-some-manner-of-accommodating/)

[Robert Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-boswell/)

> [... there is no such thing as a rational world and a separate irrational world, but only one world containing both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-rational-world-and-a-separate-irrational/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“Western man has tried for too many centuries to fool himself that he lives in a rational world. No. There's a story about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/western-man-has-tried-for-too-many-centuries-to-fool-himself-that-he/)

[Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/)

> [“Can’t you see? It’s incredibly interesting. Aren’t you struck by how much action occurred simply because something went wrong with one man’s brain? It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/can-t-you-see-it-s-incredibly-interesting-aren-t-you-struck-by-how/)

[Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/)

> [Now I no longer live in our clear, rational world; I live in the ancient nightmare world, the world of square roots of minus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/now-i-no-longer-live-in-our-clear-rational-world-i-live-in-the/)

[Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/)

> [“If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and the world of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-life-it-s-my-ability-to-live/)

[Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/)

> [“The northern soldiers are just men,” Hal told the men in his command. “And women,” he amended. “When you cut them, they bleed, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cinda-williams-chima/the-northern-soldiers-are-just-men-hal-told-the-men-in-his-command/)

[Cinda Williams Chima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cinda-williams-chima/)

> [“I Told You, Men Are Stupid”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendi-bear/i-told-you-men-are-stupid/)

Wendi Bear

> [I don't like crying. I'm a country boy, and we're the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/i-don-t-like-crying-i-m-a-country-boy-and-we-re-the-product-of-our/)

[Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/)

> [Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/let-me-not-then-die-ingloriously-and-without-a-struggle-but-let-me/)

[Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/)

> [Let it be told, that Men who are desperate for riches are not far from Prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ore-abayomi/let-it-be-told-that-men-who-are-desperate-for-riches-are-not-far-from/)

[Ore Abayomi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ore-abayomi/)

> [I'm a country boy, and we're the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don't cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/i-m-a-country-boy-and-we-re-the-product-of-our-upbringing-as-a-boy-i/)

[Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/)

> [I am a man" he told her, "and men do not consume pink beverages. Get thee gone woman, and bring me something brown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-am-a-man-he-told-her-and-men-do-not-consume-pink-beverages-get-thee/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

## More by Jane Addams

> [The task of youth is not only its own salvation but the salvation of those against whom it rebels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-task-of-youth-is-not-only-its-own-salvation-but-the-salvation-of/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [“In his own way each man must struggle, lest the moral law become a far-off abstraction utterly separated from his active life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/in-his-own-way-each-man-must-struggle-lest-the-moral-law-become-a-far/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Private beneficence is totally inadequate to deal with the vast numbers of the city's disinherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/private-beneficence-is-totally-inadequate-to-deal-with-the-vast/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [That person is most cultivated who is able to put himself in the place of the greatest number of other persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/that-person-is-most-cultivated-who-is-able-to-put-himself-in-the/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [As the acceptance of democracy brings a certain life-giving power, so it has its own sanctions and comforts. Perhaps the most obvious one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/as-the-acceptance-of-democracy-brings-a-certain-life-giving-power-so/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Intellectual life requires for its expansion and manifestation the influences and assimilation of the interests and affections of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/intellectual-life-requires-for-its-expansion-and-manifestation-the/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Life cannot be administered by definite rules and regulations; that wisdom to deal with a man's difficulties comes only through some knowledge of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/life-cannot-be-administered-by-definite-rules-and-regulations-that/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Hospitality still survives among foreigners, although it is buried under false pride among the poorest Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/hospitality-still-survives-among-foreigners-although-it-is-buried/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Keep friends close but keep enemies closer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/keep-friends-close-but-keep-enemies-closer/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [We are thus brought to a conception of Democracy not merely as a sentiment which desires the well-being of all men, nor yet as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/we-are-thus-brought-to-a-conception-of-democracy-not-merely-as-a/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [With all the efforts made by modern society to nurture and educate the young, how stupid it is to permit the mothers of young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/with-all-the-efforts-made-by-modern-society-to-nurture-and-educate/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [If the meanest man in the republic is deprived of his rights,then every man in the republic is deprived of his rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/if-the-meanest-man-in-the-republic-is-deprived-of-his-rights-then/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [If the underdog were always right, one might quite easily try to defend him. The trouble is that very often he is but obscurely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/if-the-underdog-were-always-right-one-might-quite-easily-try-to/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Pliable human nature is relentlessly pressed upon by its physical environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/pliable-human-nature-is-relentlessly-pressed-upon-by-its-physical/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

[Explore all 100 Jane Addams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

## More Atheism quotes

> [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/)

[Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/)

> [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/)

[Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/)

> [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/)

[Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/)

> [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/)

[Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/)

> [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/)

[John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/)

> [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/)

[George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/)

> [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/)

[Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/)

> [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/)

[Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/)

> [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/)

[Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/)

> [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/)

[Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/)

> [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

[Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A wise man has told us that \"men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in and live in.\"",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jane Addams"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once-for-all-so-made-that-they/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Atheism"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once-for-all-so-made-that-they/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f37/jane-addams-6111_atheism_a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once_1568157.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A wise man has told us that \"men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in…” — Jane Addams",
                "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": "Jane Addams",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A wise man has told us...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once-for-all-so-made-that-they/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once-for-all-so-made-that-they/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
