--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men think they think upon the great…" description: "\"Men think they think upon the great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fef/mark-twain-22_books_men-think-they-think-upon-the-great-poli_603091.png" --- # Men think they think upon the great political questions… ![“Men think they think upon the great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fef/mark-twain-22_books_men-think-they-think-upon-the-great-poli_603091.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fef/mark-twain-22_books_men-think-they-think-upon-the-great-poli_603091.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fef/mark-twain-22_books_men-think-they-think-upon-the-great-poli_603091.png) > “Men think they think upon the great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side” [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. People often align with party ideologies rather than independent thought, limiting exposure to diverse ideas. **In simple terms:** Party loyalty over independent thinking. Key Takeaway Seek diverse perspectives. Themes politics independence bias Mood critical reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - voting - debate - media consumption Key Concepts groupthink ideology Questions to Reflect On - How can one think independently? - What are the dangers of echo chambers? A Different Perspective May oversimplify political motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The great political questions are in their final analysis great moral questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/the-great-political-questions-are-in-their-final-analysis-great-moral/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [Great political questions stir the deepest nature of one-half the nation, but they pass far above and over the heads of the other half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/great-political-questions-stir-the-deepest-nature-of-one-half-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [I always think that the party that offers the most hope and ideas for the future is the party that wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-brownback/i-always-think-that-the-party-that-offers-the-most-hope-and-ideas-for/) [Sam Brownback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-brownback/) > [I don't think a party can aspire to be the majority party if it's the old white guy party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/i-don-t-think-a-party-can-aspire-to-be-the-majority-party-if-it-s-the/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [I think the two-party system is a complete sham; I think it is designed so that the voters can feel like they have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-mcgruder/i-think-the-two-party-system-is-a-complete-sham-i-think-it-is/) [Aaron McGruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-mcgruder/) > [I prefer to stay with Likud. 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There are so many fault lines within the party: conservative vs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-tantaros/i-also-think-the-party-needs-to-work-on-a-couple-different-fronts/) [Andrea Tantaros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-tantaros/) > [“You don’t think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you?” His”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/you-don-t-think-the-party-would-arrest-an-innocent-man-do-you-his/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I don't think any party is capable of getting a single majority on its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-jayalalithaa/i-don-t-think-any-party-is-capable-of-getting-a-single-majority-on/) [J. Jayalalithaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-jayalalithaa/) > [At least in the U.S., the party you believe in plays a big role in how you conceive of yourself. 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They think a party will make them happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/people-have-parties-because-they-re-sad-they-think-a-party-will-make/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [It is weird. A lot of people try to ask me political questions. Im not a politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barkhad-abdi/it-is-weird-a-lot-of-people-try-to-ask-me-political-questions-im-not/) [Barkhad Abdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barkhad-abdi/) > [When there is a calamity, don't think about the party, think beyond the party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/when-there-is-a-calamity-don-t-think-about-the-party-think-beyond-the/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) ## 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 Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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