--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You never know a line is crooked unless…" description: "\"You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.\" — Socrates" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg" --- # You never know a line is crooked unless you have a… ![“You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” quote by Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg) > “You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A line’s crookedness is evident only when compared to a straight line. **In simple terms:** Perspective reveals truth. Key Takeaway Seek clear standards for comparison. Themes truth perception comparison Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - design - ethical judgments - self‑assessment Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking relativism Questions to Reflect On - What standards do you use to judge? - How do you ensure fairness in evaluation? A Different Perspective Comparison can be misleading without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/a-man-does-not-call-a-line-crooked-unless-he-has-some-idea-of-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Try not to make a straight line crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/try-not-to-make-a-straight-line-crooked/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) > [Lawyers have to make a living, and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-nobel/lawyers-have-to-make-a-living-and-can-only-do-so-by-inducing-people/) [Alfred Nobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-nobel/) > [“The straight word never runs away from the crooked word.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-okara/the-straight-word-never-runs-away-from-the-crooked-word/) Gabriel Okara > [The straight path must sometimes be crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-wilkinson/the-straight-path-must-sometimes-be-crooked/) Carole Wilkinson > [ If you can't get to be uncommon through going straight, you'll never get to do it through going crooked. \[...\] live well and die happy. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/if-you-can-t-get-to-be-uncommon-through-going-straight-you-ll-never/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The track of writing is straight and crooked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/the-track-of-writing-is-straight-and-crooked/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“The Word of God I think of as a straight edge, which shows up our own crookedness. We can't really tell how crooked our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/the-word-of-god-i-think-of-as-a-straight-edge-which-shows-up-our-own/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [God can give a straight blow with a crooked stick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrie-ten-boom/god-can-give-a-straight-blow-with-a-crooked-stick/) [Corrie Ten Boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corrie-ten-boom/) > [Why' is a crooked letter and can't be made straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/why-is-a-crooked-letter-and-can-t-be-made-straight/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The habit of taking the line of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-habit-of-taking-the-line-of-least-resistance-makes-all-rivers-and/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The straight line, a respectable optical illusion which ruins many a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-straight-line-a-respectable-optical-illusion-which-ruins-many-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [Hey Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-sydney-she-said-giving-me-a-small-crooked-smile-as-she-entered/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) ## More by Socrates > [By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/by-all-means-marry-if-you-get-a-good-wife-you-ll-be-happy-if-you-get/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Falling down is not a failure. Failure comes when you stay where you have fallen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/falling-down-is-not-a-failure-failure-comes-when-you-stay-where-you/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Do not go through life like leaf blown from here to there believing whatever you are told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/do-not-go-through-life-like-leaf-blown-from-here-to-there-believing/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [If the whole world depends on today's youth, I can't see the world lasting another 100 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/if-the-whole-world-depends-on-today-s-youth-i-can-t-see-the-world/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“I only know, I know nothing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-only-know-i-know-nothing/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-cannot-teach-anybody-anything-i-can-only-make-them-think/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [If measure and symmetry are absent from any composition in any degree, ruin awaits both the ingredients and the composition... Measure and symmetry are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/if-measure-and-symmetry-are-absent-from-any-composition-in-any-degree/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Marry a good woman, and be happy the rest of your life. Or, marry a bad, and become a good philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/marry-a-good-woman-and-be-happy-the-rest-of-your-life-or-marry-a-bad/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“For the fear of death is indeed the pretense of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretense of knowing the unknown; and no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/for-the-fear-of-death-is-indeed-the-pretense-of-wisdom-and-not-real/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [There is no difference between knowledge and temperance; for he who knows what is good and embraces it, who knows what is bad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/there-is-no-difference-between-knowledge-and-temperance-for-he-who/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Besides, it is a shame to let yourself grow old through neglect before seeing how you can develop the maximum beauty and strength of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/besides-it-is-a-shame-to-let-yourself-grow-old-through-neglect-before/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The greatest blessing granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-greatest-blessing-granted-to-mankind-come-by-way-of-madness-which/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can...And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-desire-only-to-know-the-truth-and-to-live-as-well-as-i-can-and-to/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [So you would rather suffer an injustice than do an injustice?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/so-you-would-rather-suffer-an-injustice-than-do-an-injustice/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The end of life is to be like unto God; and the soul following God, will be like unto Him; He being the beginning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-end-of-life-is-to-be-like-unto-god-and-the-soul-following-god/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) [Explore all 579 Socrates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) ## More Crooked quotes > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [Hey Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-sydney-she-said-giving-me-a-small-crooked-smile-as-she-entered/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I have crooked toes from wearing boots that didn't fit me because that's all I could afford as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-have-crooked-toes-from-wearing-boots-that-didn-t-fit-me-because/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [When I meet a new person, something has to be a little off for me to consider them beautiful. It could be crooked teeth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/when-i-meet-a-new-person-something-has-to-be-a-little-off-for-me-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [The habit of taking the line of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-habit-of-taking-the-line-of-least-resistance-makes-all-rivers-and/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body, skins and moles and old scars, secret and public hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-support-all-people-on-earth-who-have-bodies-like-and-unlike-my-body/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“He is crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/he-is-crooked-enough-to-hide-behind-a-spiral-staircase/) Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball > [I'm talkin' about a good girl gone bad crooked world, wrong path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-talkin-about-a-good-girl-gone-bad-crooked-world-wrong-path/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like to look at myself in the mirror, which is why my eye makeup is always crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-guinness/i-don-t-like-to-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-which-is-why-my-eye/) [Daphne Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-guinness/) > [The desires of the heart...are as crooked as a corkscrew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/the-desires-of-the-heart-are-as-crooked-as-a-corkscrew/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [ “CLOV \[sadly\] No one that ever lived ever thought so crooked as we.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/clov-sadly-no-one-that-ever-lived-ever-thought-so-crooked-as-we/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Washington has a mysterious power to turn perfectly reasonable, wholesome, well-meaning human beings into equivocating crooked gasbags.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harsanyi/washington-has-a-mysterious-power-to-turn-perfectly-reasonable/) [David Harsanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harsanyi/) > [John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/john-kerry-described-his-republican-critics-as-the-most-crooked-lying/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [The privilege of ruling would be in the hands of the skilled and the learned, with a wide scope left for profitable crooked deals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/the-privilege-of-ruling-would-be-in-the-hands-of-the-skilled-and-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) Browse all 376 Crooked quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Socrates" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless-you-have-a-straight-one-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crooked" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless-you-have-a-straight-one-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abe/socrates-405_crooked_you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless_2813571.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You never know a line is crooked unless you have a straight one to put next to it.” — Socrates", "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": "Socrates", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You never know a line is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless-you-have-a-straight-one-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/you-never-know-a-line-is-crooked-unless-you-have-a-straight-one-to/#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 } } ] } ```