A brown glove with one raised finger casts an exclamation-mark-shaped shadow on pale ground.

Original artwork, not a still

Mark Twain

When the human race has once acquired a supersitition, nothing short of death is ever likely to remove it.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The sweeping claim presents acquired superstition as extremely hard to dislodge. Its absoluteness expresses scepticism about changing beliefs rather than establishing a scientific rule.

Context reviewed

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