What was Mark Twain's central philosophical idea?
If I had a single 'idea,' it was that human beings are generally born with good intentions, but the world, with its institutions and ingrained prejudices, has a powerful knack for corrupting them. Look at *Huckleberry Finn* – Huck struggles mightily against what society tells him is proper behavior towards Jim, and his conscience, shaped by those very societal dictates, is a real torment. But his heart, bless its simple American soul, knows better. I found that 'things we know that ain't so' often do more damage than ignorance itself. The struggle between innate decency and learned folly was a persistent theme.
Ask Mark Twain the follow-up →