Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect – Mark Twain
This is one of my most favorite quotes. Mark Twain was a was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur. He was even called “the father of American literature” 123.
What i like about this quote, it’s the versatility of use. You can understand this quote from a political point of view, from a business point of view, from an investment point of view and so on …
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
– Mark Twain
I bet this is a popular quotes among freethinkers and contrarian thinkers. But still, from time to time we do find ourselves on the side of the majority, and at these specific moments we need to pause and reflect.
Why being on the side of majority is not smart ?
In Business:
You need to be able to detect needs before they become visible to others. The moment the majority sees the need, it would be too late, you would have too much competition.
In Politics:
Politicians lie, and politics is in essence lies and propaganda. This propaganda is created for masses, thus the masses will have the opinions that were precooked for them, even if these opinions are not for the best of their interests.
In Investment:
Like in business, when you are on the side of majority, meaning you are already too late. Whether it is stocks or business investments, you need to be there before others, you need to see things from different perspectives.
Being on the side of majority, is ok, i am not saying there is anything wrong with that. But take a moment to pause and reflect, try to see if you are on the side of majority based on sound reasons or somehow you were influenced.
In Society:
This may be the most important section. In society, the majority follow many none optimal approaches to life.
– Work as an employee instead of taking a risk in business.
– Take $100k worth of student loans instead of opening a company.
– Spend on none-essential expenses instead of saving up.
And the list can go on and on.
