--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't see any use in having a uniform…" description: "\"I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. We might as well make all clothes alike and cook all dishes alike. Samenes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/mark-twain-22_arbitrary_i-don-t-see-any-use-in-having-a-uniform_1991209.jpg" --- # I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way… ![“I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. We might as well make all clothes alike and cook all dishes alike. Sameness is tiresome; variety is pleasing.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/mark-twain-22_arbitrary_i-don-t-see-any-use-in-having-a-uniform_1991209.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/mark-twain-22_arbitrary_i-don-t-see-any-use-in-having-a-uniform_1991209.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/mark-twain-22_arbitrary_i-don-t-see-any-use-in-having-a-uniform_1991209.jpg) > “I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. We might as well make all clothes alike and cook all dishes alike. Sameness is tiresome; variety is pleasing.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues against uniformity in language, likening it to forced sameness in clothing and food, celebrating diversity. **In simple terms:** Uniform spelling is boring; variety is enjoyable. Key Takeaway Value linguistic diversity. Themes language culture individuality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - education - publishing - branding - personal expression Key Concepts conformity creativity social norms Questions to Reflect On - Is some standardization necessary for clarity? - How does language shape cultural identity? A Different Perspective Uniform standards can aid communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Sameness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sameness/) [Variety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variety/) ## Related quotes > [I know what's like to be young and have atrocious spelling, spelling words all backwards, mixing up numbers, addresses. and things like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-scott/i-know-what-s-like-to-be-young-and-have-atrocious-spelling-spelling/) [Ashley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-scott/) > [“He also came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself, because of both its daily convenience (the rationale he claimed) and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/he-also-came-to-like-the-idea-of-having-a-uniform-for-himself-because/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [As a woman, I've learned that having a uniform of your staples or setting your look and saying what distinguishes you - like red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/as-a-woman-i-ve-learned-that-having-a-uniform-of-your-staples-or/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [I always liked having a uniform. Growing up, when I was playing baseball, or hockey, or football. Always nice to have a uniform. Felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/i-always-liked-having-a-uniform-growing-up-when-i-was-playing/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [Simplified spelling is all right, but, like chastity, you can carry it too far.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/simplified-spelling-is-all-right-but-like-chastity-you-can-carry-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/fainali-xen-aafte-sam-20-iers-ov-orxogrefkl-riform-wi-wud-hev-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [This morning arrives a letter from my ancient silver-mining comrade, Calvin H. Higbie, a man whom I have not seen nor had communication with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/this-morning-arrives-a-letter-from-my-ancient-silver-mining-comrade/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-me-that-a-gifted-person-ought/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“I have had an aversion to good spelling for sixty years and more, merely for the reason that when I was a boy there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-had-an-aversion-to-good-spelling-for-sixty-years-and-more/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [As I have said before, I never had any large respect for good spelling. That is my feeling yet. Before the spelling-book came with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-i-have-said-before-i-never-had-any-large-respect-for-good-spelling/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-gifted-person-ought-to-learn-english-barring-spelling-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Follow your bliss. That which you love you must spend your life doing, as passionately and as perfectly as your heart, mind and instincts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lois/follow-your-bliss-that-which-you-love-you-must-spend-your-life-doing/) [George Lois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lois/) > [My mother taught me this trick: if you repeat something over and over again it loses its meaning, for example homework homework homework homework…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-mother-taught-me-this-trick-if-you-repeat-something-over-and-over/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Physical beings want things to be the same. They want people to think the same. You work rather hard at sameness, but you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/physical-beings-want-things-to-be-the-same-they-want-people-to-think/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Life is like the dice that, falling, still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, is always presenting different aspects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-sanchez/life-is-like-the-dice-that-falling-still-show-a-different-face-so/) [Alexis Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-sanchez/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Arbitrary quotes > [It is irresponsible to set an arbitrary cap on how much therapy a Medicare beneficiary can receive. It ignores the health needs of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ensign/it-is-irresponsible-to-set-an-arbitrary-cap-on-how-much-therapy-a/) [John Ensign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ensign/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Not to be offensive, not to be capricious, not to be arbitrary, not to be neurotic, not to be an actor outer, you're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurt/not-to-be-offensive-not-to-be-capricious-not-to-be-arbitrary-not-to/) [William Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurt/) > [I don't concern myself with thinking ahead to the finished product. I focus more specifically on what the character is experiencing. Once you relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/i-don-t-concern-myself-with-thinking-ahead-to-the-finished-product-i/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [Habit is altogether too arbitrary a master for me to submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/habit-is-altogether-too-arbitrary-a-master-for-me-to-submit-to/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [I look back, now, and I know that the naming moment, which seemed so insignificant then, which seemed to demand no more than an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-look-back-now-and-i-know-that-the-naming-moment-which-seemed-so/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/police-in-china-can-do-whatever-they-want-after-81-days-in-arbitrary/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Contrary to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detention, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-ebadi/contrary-to-what-certain-governments-say-human-rights-are-universal/) [Shirin Ebadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-ebadi/) > [What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/what-causes-adolescents-to-rebel-is-not-the-assertion-of-authority/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/there-is-something-on-earth-greater-than-arbitrary-or-despotic-power/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [“nothing is arbitrary in this whole world, there is a good reason behind each and everything…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-kumar/nothing-is-arbitrary-in-this-whole-world-there-is-a-good-reason/) Nikhil Kumar > [Fundamentally, adopting rules without any estimate of the impact is the height of arbitrary decision-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-rielly/fundamentally-adopting-rules-without-any-estimate-of-the-impact-is/) [Michael O'Rielly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-rielly/) > [No arbitrary regulation, no act of the legislature, can add anything to the capital of the country; it can only force it into artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ramsay-mcculloch/no-arbitrary-regulation-no-act-of-the-legislature-can-add-anything-to/) John Ramsay McCulloch > [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) Browse all 529 Arbitrary quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't see any use in having a uniform and arbitrary way of spelling words. 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