By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter." ~Confucius
Since we've been so greatly appreciating the wisdom--and vocabulary--of Mark Twain in class lately, let's look at one of his famous epigrams [brief, clever, memorable statement]:
"NOTHING SO NEEDS REFORMING AS OTHER PEOPLE'S HABITS."
Why do you think this is so? Why do we look to correct the small irritating habits in others and fail to reflect upon our own? What is it we are trying not to see?

57 comments:
I think we look at other peoples problems and want them to change because it is much easier then to change ourselves. Also i think for many people it is hard for them to admit they need to change.
ilovechelsea
I think the reson people judge and try to correct things in other people is because they try and make themselves sound better. By putting down someone else it "brings up" their self esteem. We try and cover up the things that we need to fix about ourselves.
I think that humans are naturally self-centered and believe they are better than most people so they look to correct others. Also, if they correct others they are making them feel inferior to them in their own minds.
First of all, I don't understand anything that twain says. And second, It's human nature to correct others, when you yourself feel insecure.
I think we look to correct the small irritating habits in others and fail to reflect upon our own so we can forget about our issues. I thik also so we can feel better knowing that other people have problems too. For many people it's hard for them to admit that they need change. In addition,sometimes we need to remind ourselves about our problems by fixing others.
ID:betchimthebombliketicitc
I believe that we see others problem and worry about them more than our own, simply because we are insecure. We think that if we realize other people's problems, we look a lot better and feel better about ourselfs. We point out the flaws of everyone maybe because we are jelouse and its easier to say a rude comment then to compiment them. We can't amit to our own problems unless we know everyone has worse.
I think that people decide to be extra nice to a sertain person who is down to try to make that person feel better. Also it feels good to nice to someone.
lvsk8er91
I don't think most people like knowing that they are wrong or have annoying habits. People tend to try to fix others because it's easier to look at someone else than it is theirselves.
-texas2010
I think that we criticize and try to change other people so we do not have to face the fact that we probably have the exact same problems.It is a lot easier to change someone else rather to change ourselves. Most of the time we just do not want to face that fact...
We find faults in others that we also find as faults in ourselves. Some try to change others before changing themselves. Some find it challenging to admit they need to change or that they were wrong. Some make others feel bad about themselves, building their own self confidence, when in reality, they're just as bad, if not worse, for putting someone else down.
people are always looking at other peoples mistakes and looking at their reputation wanting to either be like them or be un like them they are also looking at other people so they can feel better about themselves instead of being who they want to be they are being who they want other people to see them.
i think the reason why we do that is that we are so consumed by others peoples lifes that we cant take care of our own problems. wich makes us notice more negative things about other people other then ourselfs therefore our own mind and body deteriate while we critique others.
TYLER MURPHY
The reason why we want to correct other peoples habits instead of our own is because people,as a whole, are selfish and believe they can do nothing wrong. we are trying not to see our own flaws so we pick out others.
matt koomen
sometimes people judge others maybe because they done have what that person may have. so they judge them. i thnk that it is wrong and people need to get to know the people if there gunna judge.
i love chels
habits are a hard thing to fix, we probably look to correct habits in others because we see them as just annoying or rude, and were trying to look past our own habits and correct those of others, so that we might not notice our own.
Well its simple why people dont want to see their own habits. no one likes to be told they're wrong so even if someone points them out they will disagree. Maybe pointing out other peoples habits makes them feel better about themselves. Who knows?
k33
people judge each other to make themselves feel better. they are afraid of their own insecurities.
We correct other people cuz we only see wat is best for us like we dont se what we did wrong and we dont like other people to correct us But we do like to correct ppl so that way we think that we know better than them wich is wrong you should think the same as other if you understod them then dont say anything
La Fl@ka
I think that we like to notice other peoples flaws over our own because we are ADDICTED to ourselves. We began by telling ourselves that we are "ok" when we are not. Then we start to believe ourself to the point that we feel nothing! When we look in the mirror we no longer see ourself but some one that we have never seen before; yet we like it! Sad. We are so addicted to ourselves that we will crush anyone in our way to make ourselves look good. Thats were we will put each other down and tell them their flaws and not even look at ourselves. Thats what we are trying not to see how addicted we are to OURSELVES. Sad.
If you would asked how do we stop being addicted to ourselves first we need to tell some one our flaws and forgive and forget. Second tell God. Third RUN! Run from your self only with God's power can you do that. Finally go to God and read His word, and live the way He wants us to. But you can only do this with God's grace.
I think this is true because we seem as people to look at others and try to correct what they do in their life instead of looking at our own. It's alright to help others with their habits, but we should focus more on our own. Maybe why we do this is because we want to feel more better and higher then others.
LOVE
We try to put emphasis on other's mistakes to try and overshadow our own mistakes and character flaws. We can't swallow our pride and admit we're wrong most of the time.
MrStuzmanFan60
We try to put emphasis on other's mistakes to try and overshadow our own mistakes and character flaws. We can't swallow our pride and admit we're wrong most of the time.
MrStuzmanFan60
I believe we do this because of our own problems we have to concentrate on everyone elses mistakes an every little flaw. It all matters on how insecure the person is with theirselves.
I believe we do this because of our own problems we have to concentrate on everyone elses mistakes an every little flaw. It all matters on how insecure the person is with theirselves.
Because that is what people do. People don't see they are messed up also. They need to wake up and change themselves.
everyone thinks they have it all figured out and that others need to do the same.we are trying not to see our own flaws.
tyler david
i think the reson people judge and try to correct things in other people is because the wont themselves feel better
We look to correct the small irritating habits of others instead of our own because it's easier for us to judge other people than for us to be the judge of ourselves. We as people would much rather judge someone else and their habits than to look at our own habits and judge ourselves. No one honestly likes being judged and no one really has the place or the right to judge anyone else no matter who they are, what the did or didn't do, or what their doing. The problem is that no one really follows this rule; we all judge someone at some point or another throughout our life. Every single one of us judge people, some more than others. We are trying so hard to focus on the mistakes and the little habits of others that it helps us keep from looking at ourselves and our habits and mistakes. Why would we as people want to judge our own irritating habits when it's so much easier to pick or judge others for their habits? This keeps the spotlight off of us as long as we're judging others.
godstrackgirl91@yahoo.com
it is much easier fo us to point out other peoples faults and tell them that they need to change than it is for us to point out our own faults and problems. it doesnt take much strength to tell others what needs to be done to help them. however it takes alot more courage, strenght, and wisdom to admit our own issues. now that we have all thought about this hopefully we will do something to correct it
*jojofosho*
We correct others because they need to be corrected. If nobody ever got corrected then we would conform to every dumb idea and habbit that came along.
striker
I think it is much harder to see our own faults than those of others.I think this is one reason people are so judgemental. Also, I think there are a lot of people who actually get some kind of pleasure from putting other people down because it raises their self esteem in some way. I think people just need to try and be more accepting instead of trying to change others.
CONDOR
because we don't want to admit that we're wrong
-basketball33
I think that people judge others because it makes them feel better about theirselves. It is not a good thing to do but everybody does it. We are trying to see the imperfections in them and compare them to ours to make ourselves feel better.
ilovemolly
I think we do that because we do not want to admit our own faults. Reflection is truly the best way to find your problems out. Also I would like to add in observation.
I think that the reason that we try to correct ohter people's problems and not ours is because we don't want to see ourselves in them. I know that my little brother is a carbon copy of me and we look the same and we sort of act the same a lot of the time. Yeah, we are still very different but every now and then he will do something and i will get so annoyed with him but then I'll realize that thats what I do too! But a lot of the time instead of trying to fix myself i get on to him because i hate seeing my faults being played out.
yo Mama
i think that, as with everything else he writes, Mark Twain is mocking people with this quote. i also think that by correcting other peoples habits we forget about our own which is what most people are looking to do. they feel that if they focus on someone else then no one will focus on them and that will make them ok. also i think that people avoid correcting themselves because its HARD to change and it takes TIME and PATIENCE which most people don't have enough of. by trying to "fix" someone else i think we are just expressing the fact that we ourself need to be "fixed" and in some misunderstood way we are trying to call for help. people never wanna think that something is wrong with themselves because then they feel that the "great hair" or the "perfect body" or the "amazing teeth" or anything else like that no longer make them good enough. i would like to say (and i hope everyone takes this into consideration) IT ISNT LOOKS THAT MATTER BUT RATHER PERSONALITY!!! so please...stop trying to tell people their physical flaws and try to think about "fixing" some of your own personality flaws. also something we as humans need to think about...isn't it just as bad to avoid "fixing" yourself as it is to belittle other people and try to make them change themselves? we should all stop focusing on others and trying to make our flaws unseen and just face the fact that EVERYONE has things about themselves that they need to change. thats all i'm gonna say. thank you and have a WONDERFUL valentines day.
I think we focus on other people's flaws because we lack the courage to see our own. Generally we try to tell everyone else what they are doing wrong before we fix what we are doing wrong.
--Brainyblonde92
I think the reason we do that is because we are so intertained and thrived by other people's lives which makes us not care as much about ourselves. Which makes us judge other people and how they express theirselves.
This quote is so true. People are so quick to judge others, they can't even see their own faults. Everyone is equal, we all make mistakes and we all have things that others don't like. We need to accept each other and when we accept each other then we would reform the world together.
This quote is some what true because most people are very quick on judging others. We all have different things in this world that we dont like but when we are ready to accept our own faults along with other peoples that will be the day when we are able to start reforming the world. We need to realize our owns faults to be able to accept others.
Volleyball23
I think that people look at other peoples faults because they are too stupid to look at their own. The reason people judge and correct other peoples habits is because its much easier to tell someone what to do rather than doing it yourself. We are trying not to see the faults in our life because a lot of people would turn real insecure if they actually thought about their life and if they are living right!
i think that people want to change other people because each person thinks that their way is the "right" way and so they would want everyone else in the world to conform to their expectations and it should be vice versa. A person can be an individual but to be a part of this world you must partake of this civil society and everything else are just the components of what makes a person.
I think that we look at the bad in people instead of trying to get to know them and understand them first. It's kind of like judging a book for its cover. You never know what it's like until you try it out!
i really didn't understand what you were saying. And as the amazing americans that we are, (not) we always look at the bad in people and not trying to help them fix it.
I think its easier to coerrect other people then to correct yourself.
cheer2010
Well Mrs. Snow,
I didnt really understand or get what this thingy was saying...it confused me alot. So, I dont know what to put...Mark Twain is confusing Mrs. Snow!!! :)
this is a very wise statement. nobody wants to admit that theyre wrong, and especially no one wants to correct theyre mistakes. this is a very hard thing to do. so instead they call out on others problems to make them feel better.
I think what they are saying is that we don't want to recognize our flaws, and we pick out other peoples bad habits so we can ignore our own.
i think is mostly about pride that keeps people from looking at their own problems. they want to keep themselves thinking they are perfect, but when it comes to other peoples mistakes people are quick to point them out because when they talk about someone elses faults it makes them feel good about themselves.
people correct other people who might be wrong because they like things to be right eventhought they don't know that they might do them wrong too.sometimes they fo know they do things wrong but they just don;t want to accept it and they like to tell other people their istakes eventhough it might hurt them.
I think that Ipeople look at others rather than themselves because they don't like to see the flaws in themselves. I personally try to notice my flaws rather than feeling that I am better than others. We all have habits that we aren't proud of and they can be changed if we strive to chage them.
You can correct other people better than urself but other than that mark twain is very confusing and i hate his writting. It is not neccessary to use the biggest words in the world for sometyhing that only losers that sit in their basement and read his crappy stories
Lucas Britton
We always want to try and change other people and their habits because we notice them, and we don't do want to change ourselves.
[(t-ra)]
Everyone in this world is judgemental and can look at someone and find something that they dont like. I think people do it because its just in our nature to do it. And Mrs. Snow just so you know, I dont like reading Mark Twain because he makes no sense.
its easier to look at other peoples problems and try to correct them then are own
I think people cant accept their bad habits and point out everybody elses bad habits
-lar16c
I think we try not to see our own flaws. but everyone else we think shouldn't have them.
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