Mark Twain? John W. Casto? Maturin M. Ballou? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain traveled widely, and he wrote about his experiences in the books “The Innocents Abroad” and “Following the Equator”. Twain believed that travel broadened the mind and reduced prejudices. Would you please help me to find a quotation in which he expressed this idea?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1869 Mark Twain published “The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims’ Progress”. The conclusory section contained the following passage:1
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Twain’s remark was memorable, and the 1899 compilation “Edge-Tools of Speech” selected by Maturin M. Ballou included the following short entry:2
Travel is fatal to prejudice. — Mark Twain
In 1925 “The Rotarian” magazine printed an article by John W. Casto who made a point which was similar to Twain’s point:3
Success in getting people together is always largely dependent on one’s ability to get them to park their prejudices outside the council chamber. “Of all things fatal to prejudice,” travel undoubtedly ranks first because it confronts men with realities instead of shadows. The tendency to criticise and condemn the things about which one knows the least is a provincial one …
In 1948 the collection “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips” compiled by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger included the following entry under the topic of prejudice:4
Travel is fatal to prejudice. . . .
P. 444—The Innocents Abroad, Conclusion, Vol. II
In 1953 “The Writer’s Resource Book” suggested that knowledge of facts would reduce prejudice:5
And there is no enemy more fatal to prejudice than a few potent facts.
Twain’s remark has retained its popularity for many decades. For example, it appeared in the 2008 book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions”:6
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. — Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869
In conclusion, Mark Twain deserves credit for this remark which he made about travel in his 1869 book “The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims’ Progress”.
Image Notes: Picture of Earth taken by Apollo 17 crew. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: The research on this quotation was inspired by discussions with the wonderful members of a recent tour group.
- 1869, The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims’ Progress by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens), Chapter: Conclusion, Quote Page 650, American Publishing Company, Hartford, Connecticut. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1899, Edge-Tools of Speech, Selected and Arranged by Maturin M. Ballou, Topic: Travel, Quote Page 507, Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1925 June, The Rotarian, Volume 26, Number 6, Down to the Sea in Ships by John W. Casto, Start Page 16, Quote Page 17, Column 1, Published by Rotary International, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1948, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips, Compiled by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Topic: Prejudice, Quote Page 370, Cloud, Inc., Beechhurst Press, Inc., New York.(Verified on paper) ↩︎
- 1953 Copyright, The Writer’s Resource Book, Edited by John Gerber and Kenneth Houp, What Are You Here For? by Elisabeth Ann Hudnut, Start Page 121, Quote Page 122, Column 2, Scott, Foresman and Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2008, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions by Elaine Bernstein Partnow, Chapter 16: Good Times, Quote Page 126, Published by Alpha Books: Penguin Group, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎