--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The improbability of a malicious story…" description: "\"The improbability of a malicious story serves but to help forward the currency of it, because it increases the scandal. So that, in such instances, the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23c/laurence-sterne-1405_absurd_the-improbability-of-a-malicious-story-s_2235588.jpg" --- # The improbability of a malicious story serves but to help… ![“The improbability of a malicious story serves but to help forward the currency of it, because it increases the scandal. So that, in such instances, the world is like the pious St. Austin, who said he believed some things because they were absurd and impossible.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23c/laurence-sterne-1405_absurd_the-improbability-of-a-malicious-story-s_2235588.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23c/laurence-sterne-1405_absurd_the-improbability-of-a-malicious-story-s_2235588.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23c/laurence-sterne-1405_absurd_the-improbability-of-a-malicious-story-s_2235588.jpg) > “The improbability of a malicious story serves but to help forward the currency of it, because it increases the scandal. So that, in such instances, the world is like the pious St. Austin, who said he believed some things because they were absurd and impossible.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Absurd, impossible stories gain traction because they scandalize, and belief can be swayed by the sheer absurdity of a claim. **In simple terms:** Crazy stories spread because they’re shocking and hard to disprove. Key Takeaway Critically evaluate sensational claims. Themes absurdity scandal belief truth literature Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - news consumption - social media - political rhetoric - education Key Concepts narrative theory media influence critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports a sensational claim? - How do you differentiate hype from fact? A Different Perspective Absurdity can also obscure truth and foster misinformation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austin/) [Believed Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-things-282871/) [Currency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/currency/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Improbability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/) [Improbability Malicious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability-malicious-5045918/) [Increase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) [Increases Scandal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increases-scandal-5045920/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Malicious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malicious/) [Malicious Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malicious-story-5045919/) [Pious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pious/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Scandal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scandal/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [There is no small degree of malicious craft in fixing upon a season to give a mark of enmity and ill-will: a word--a look,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-is-no-small-degree-of-malicious-craft-in-fixing-upon-a-season/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I don't think he believed most of the things he said himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-cannon/i-don-t-think-he-believed-most-of-the-things-he-said-himself/) [Howard Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-cannon/) > [“the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man’s life must be done beneath the open sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-dothraki-believed-that-all-things-of-importance-in-a-man-s-life/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“To hear a truth, we must first suspect that our present truth might not be. 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And faith isn't about perfect attendance to services, or how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/but-there-were-some-things-i-believed-in-some-things-i-had-faith-in/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [All successful men have agreed in one thing -- they were causationists. They believed that things went not by luck, but by law; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-successful-men-have-agreed-in-one-thing-they-were-causationists/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [For men and women are not only themselves; they are also the region in which they are born, the city apartment or farm in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/for-men-and-women-are-not-only-themselves-they-are-also-the-region-in/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Jack believed in something—he believed in white witches and sleighs pulled by wolves, and in the world the trees obscured. He believed that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/jack-believed-in-something-he-believed-in-white-witches-and-sleighs/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/dear-sensibility-source-inexhausted-of-all-that-s-precious-in-our/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best friends in the world may differ sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-friends-in-the-world-may-differ-sometimes/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best hearts are ever the bravest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-hearts-are-ever-the-bravest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Hail! the small courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/hail-the-small-courtesies-of-life-for-smooth-do-ye-make-the-road-of/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There are a thousand unnoticed openings, continued my father, which let penetrating eye at once into a man's soul; and I maintain it, added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-are-a-thousand-unnoticed-openings-continued-my-father-which-let/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em - and trust me, when I get amongst 'em - you gentry with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/button-holes-there-is-something-lively-in-the-very-idea-of-em-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Explore all 244 Laurence Sterne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. 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But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The improbability of a malicious story serves but to help forward the currency of it, because it increases the scandal. 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