--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Logicians may reason about abstractions…" description: "\"Logicians may reason about abstractions. But the great mass of men must have images. The strong tendency of the multitude in all ages and nations to id..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_abstraction_logicians-may-reason-about-abstractions_1956893.png" --- # Logicians may reason about abstractions. But the great… ![“Logicians may reason about abstractions. But the great mass of men must have images. The strong tendency of the multitude in all ages and nations to idolatry can be explained on no other principle.” quote by Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_abstraction_logicians-may-reason-about-abstractions_1956893.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_abstraction_logicians-may-reason-about-abstractions_1956893.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/719/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_abstraction_logicians-may-reason-about-abstractions_1956893.png) > “Logicians may reason about abstractions. But the great mass of men must have images. The strong tendency of the multitude in all ages and nations to idolatry can be explained on no other principle.” [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Masses gravitate toward images and idols because abstract reasoning is less accessible. **In simple terms:** People favor images over ideas. Key Takeaway Use clear visuals to convey complex ideas. Themes religion idolatry abstraction mass psychology communication Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - public speaking - education - media campaigns - policy advocacy - artistic expression Key Concepts Sociology philosophy of religion cognitive science Questions to Reflect On - How can we make abstract ideas relatable? - When does visual persuasion become manipulation? A Different Perspective Risk of oversimplifying nuanced concepts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstractions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstractions/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Idolatry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idolatry/) [Logicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logicians/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [“I don't know which is finally sicker -- specifics or engulfing abstractions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lutz/i-don-t-know-which-is-finally-sicker-specifics-or-engulfing/) [Gary Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lutz/) > [My father painted, well into his 80s, what he called hard edge abstractions. It's really cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-black/my-father-painted-well-into-his-80s-what-he-called-hard-edge/) [Lewis Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-black/) > [Even at its most perceptive, sociology deals in abstractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/even-at-its-most-perceptive-sociology-deals-in-abstractions/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [I think we are living a life without specificity, and then our lives become abstractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-think-we-are-living-a-life-without-specificity-and-then-our-lives/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I don't see those paintings as abstractions, especially because they are emblems of the inkblot. They aren't smashed together; they are constructed shape-by-shape, layer-by-layer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/i-don-t-see-those-paintings-as-abstractions-especially-because-they/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [For the Warrior of the Light, there are no abstractions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/for-the-warrior-of-the-light-there-are-no-abstractions/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To make someone an icon is to make him an abstraction, and abstractions are incapable of vital communication with living people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-make-someone-an-icon-is-to-make-him-an-abstraction-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Policymakers think that if they get the abstractions right, that will drive behavior in the desired direction. 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You can deny seriousness, but not play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/you-can-deny-if-you-like-nearly-all-abstractions-justice-beauty-truth/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [Abstractions about right and wrong, whether they are as old as Thou Shalt Not Kill or as modern as Do Your Own Thing, often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/abstractions-about-right-and-wrong-whether-they-are-as-old-as-thou/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [In retrospect I can see that my desire to create abstractions has become more and more radical. Art should not be delivering a report…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-gursky/in-retrospect-i-can-see-that-my-desire-to-create-abstractions-has/) [Andreas Gursky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-gursky/) ## More by Thomas B. Macaulay > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [We must judge a government by its general tendencies and not by its happy accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/we-must-judge-a-government-by-its-general-tendencies-and-not-by-its/) [Thomas B. 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Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Ambrose Phillips . . . who had the honor of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his name, Namby Pamby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/ambrose-phillips-who-had-the-honor-of-bringing-into-fashion-a-species/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In the infancy of civilization, when our island was as savage as New Guinea, when letters and arts were still unknown to Athens, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-the-infancy-of-civilization-when-our-island-was-as-savage-as-new/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that good poets are bad critics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-truth-it-may-be-laid-down-as-an-almost-universal-rule-that-good/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The Spartan, smiting and spurning the wretched Helot, moves our disgust. But the same Spartan, calmly dressing his hair, and uttering his concise jests,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/the-spartan-smiting-and-spurning-the-wretched-helot-moves-our-disgust/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) [Explore all 193 Thomas B. Macaulay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. 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