--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how…" description: "\"We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/mark-twain-22_conformity_we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how_2608137.png" --- # We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is… ![“We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/mark-twain-22_conformity_we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how_2608137.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/mark-twain-22_conformity_we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how_2608137.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/mark-twain-22_conformity_we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how_2608137.png) > “We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove.” [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 follow the crowd without questioning, likening society to sheep following a drive. **In simple terms:** People follow others blindly. Key Takeaway Encourage independent thought over herd mentality. Themes conformity society individualism Mood cautionary thought‑provoking Type social philosophical When to use this quote - education - leadership - media literacy Key Concepts social psychology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When is following the crowd advantageous? - How can we balance individuality with community? A Different Perspective Group pressure can be beneficial in some contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Discreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discreet/) [Discreet Sheep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discreet-sheep-2004104/) [Going Drove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-drove-2004107/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Inspirational life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational-life/) [Sheep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheep/) [Sheep Wait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheep-wait-2004105/) [Wait Drove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wait-drove-2004106/) [Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting/) ## Related quotes > [We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-are-discreet-sheep-we-wait-to-see-how-the-drove-is-going-and-then-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“There are,” said Twain, “certain sweet-smelling, sugarcoated lies current in the world which all politic men have apparently tacitly conspired together to support and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-are-said-twain-certain-sweet-smelling-sugarcoated-lies-current/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Custom is, to think a handsome thing in private but tame it down in the utterance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/custom-is-to-think-a-handsome-thing-in-private-but-tame-it-down-in/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Conformity—the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/conformity-the-natural-instinct-to-passively-yield-to-that-vague/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I hope that increasing numbers of Christians adopt the practice of wearing a cross in a simple and discreet way as a symbol of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-o-brien/i-hope-that-increasing-numbers-of-christians-adopt-the-practice-of/) [Keith O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-o-brien/) > [“photographer had been discreet;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/photographer-had-been-discreet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am rather discreet and shy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-clayderman/i-am-rather-discreet-and-shy/) [Richard Clayderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-clayderman/) > [I have always been discreet in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-golo-kante/i-have-always-been-discreet-in-my-life/) [N'Golo Kante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-golo-kante/) > [You know what I never get with the limo? 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As discreet as a six-foot-six, no-neck guy weighing three hundred and fifty pounds, all dressed in black SWAT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/i-ll-be-real-discreet-tank-said-as-discreet-as-a-six-foot-six-no-neck/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/a-person-who-is-discreet-in-speaking-will-be-useful-during-the-good/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/chaperons-even-in-their-days-of-glory-were-almost-never-able-to/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I was gonna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-was-a-very-sickly-child-my-parents-were-immigrants-they-were-not/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) ## 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. 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Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A self is a frightening thing to waste, it's the lens through which one's whole life is viewed, and few people are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/a-self-is-a-frightening-thing-to-waste-it-s-the-lens-through-which/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [Ideation is not a synonym for innovation, conformity is not its simple antonym, and innovation is not the automatic consequence of "creative thinking.".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-levitt/ideation-is-not-a-synonym-for-innovation-conformity-is-not-its-simple/) [Theodore Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-levitt/) > [“I lead with the knowingness that my reality conforms to my wishes and desires instantly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s-baker/i-lead-with-the-knowingness-that-my-reality-conforms-to-my-wishes-and/) [Robin S. 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