--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Better live a crossing-sweeper than die…" description: "\"Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a \"medium\" hired at a guinea a seance.\" — Thomas Huxley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png" --- # Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to… ![“Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a "medium" hired at a guinea a seance.” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png) > “Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a "medium" hired at a guinea a seance.” [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living a modest, honest life is preferable to being forced into pretentious nonsense by charlatans. **In simple terms:** Choose simple honesty over false grandeur. Key Takeaway Value authenticity over superficiality. Themes honesty simplicity deception Mood skeptical reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal relationships - career choices - public discourse - media consumption Key Concepts existentialism skepticism social critique Questions to Reflect On - When is ambition justified? - How do you discern genuine insight from charlatanism? A Different Perspective Some may argue that ambition can be constructive when guided ethically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Guinea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guinea/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Sweepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweepers/) ## Related quotes > [The only good that I can see in the demonstration of the truth of "Spiritualism" is to furnish an additional argument against suicide. Better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-only-good-that-i-can-see-in-the-demonstration-of-the-truth-of/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [You can be anything you want to be. You can be a street sweeper, if you want. Just be the best blasted street sweeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/you-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be-you-can-be-a-street-sweeper-if-you/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [“All of yesterday's ballers are today's road sweepers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/habeeb-akande/all-of-yesterday-s-ballers-are-today-s-road-sweepers/) [Habeeb Akande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/habeeb-akande/) > [Fear no more the heat o' th' sun Nor the furious winters' rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/fear-no-more-the-heat-o-th-sun-nor-the-furious-winters-rages-thou-thy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Some critics are like chimney-sweepers; they put out the fire below, and frighten the swallows from their nests above; they scrape a long time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/some-critics-are-like-chimney-sweepers-they-put-out-the-fire-below/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Golden lads and girls all must as chimney sweepers come to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/golden-lads-and-girls-all-must-as-chimney-sweepers-come-to-dust/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Under ideal conditions, the barrister and the bhangi (sweeper) should both get the same payment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/under-ideal-conditions-the-barrister-and-the-bhangi-sweeper-should/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I wrote my first book in a toilet in a factory where I was a floor sweeper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-thompson/i-wrote-my-first-book-in-a-toilet-in-a-factory-where-i-was-a-floor/) [Geoff Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-thompson/) > [Malcolm X found the language that communicated across the board, from college professor to floor sweeper, all at the same time, without demeaning the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/malcolm-x-found-the-language-that-communicated-across-the-board-from/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [It's a battered old suitcase and a hotel someplace and a wound that will never heal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/it-s-a-battered-old-suitcase-and-a-hotel-someplace-and-a-wound-that/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Cleaning up the country cannot be the sole responsibility of sweepers. Do citizens have no role in this? We have to change this mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/cleaning-up-the-country-cannot-be-the-sole-responsibility-of-sweepers/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [The national State divides its inhabitants into three classes: State citizens, State subjects, and foreigners. It must be held in greater honour to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-national-state-divides-its-inhabitants-into-three-classes-state/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Any eyes on me - a late-night street sweeper, some dude texting in his parked car, the homeless guy talking to himself - make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-mullen/any-eyes-on-me-a-late-night-street-sweeper-some-dude-texting-in-his/) [Rodney Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-mullen/) > [I am very fit and by playing sweeper I can control the speed of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruud-gullit/i-am-very-fit-and-by-playing-sweeper-i-can-control-the-speed-of-the/) [Ruud Gullit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruud-gullit/) > [If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets as Raphael painted pictures, sweep streets as Michelangelo carved marble, sweep streets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/if-it-falls-your-lot-to-be-a-street-sweeper-sweep-streets-as-raphael/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## More by Thomas Huxley > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [There is nothing of permanent value (putting aside a few human affections) nothing that satisfies quiet reflection--except the sense of having worked according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/there-is-nothing-of-permanent-value-putting-aside-a-few-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/economy-does-not-lie-in-sparing-money-but-in-spending-it-wisely/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-not-to-be-forgotten-that-what-we-call-rational-grounds-for-our/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Only a scientific people can survive in a scientific future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/only-a-scientific-people-can-survive-in-a-scientific-future/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In science, as in art, and, as I believe, in every other sphere of human activity, there may be wisdom in a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-science-as-in-art-and-as-i-believe-in-every-other-sphere-of-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/science-is-simply-common-sense-at-its-best-that-is-rigidly-accurate/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Oh devil! truth is better than much profit. I have searched over the grounds of my belief, and if wife and child and name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/oh-devil-truth-is-better-than-much-profit-i-have-searched-over-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Let us have "sweet girl graduates" by all means. They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the "golden hair"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/let-us-have-sweet-girl-graduates-by-all-means-they-will-be-none-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-matters-of-the-intellect-do-not-pretend-that-conclusions-are/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [And you very soon find out, if you have not found it out before, that patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/and-you-very-soon-find-out-if-you-have-not-found-it-out-before-that/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [No one who has lived in the world as long as you & I have, can entertain the pious delusion that it is engineered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-one-who-has-lived-in-the-world-as-long-as-you-i-have-can-entertain/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/mix-salt-and-sand-and-it-shall-puzzle-the-wisest-of-men-with-his-mere/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [What are the moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people? 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Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? 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Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a \"medium\" hired at a guinea a seance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Huxley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die-and-be-made-to-talk-twaddle/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atheism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die-and-be-made-to-talk-twaddle/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/thomas-huxley-1183_atheism_better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die_1805309.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a \"medium\" hired at a guinea a seance.” — Thomas Huxley", "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": "Thomas Huxley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Better live a crossing-sweeper than die...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die-and-be-made-to-talk-twaddle/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/better-live-a-crossing-sweeper-than-die-and-be-made-to-talk-twaddle/#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 } } ] } ```