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Mark Twain - It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled · the Daily Quote - Positive Daily Inspiration and Motivational Quote of the Day

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  Welcome to The Daily Quote, a podcast designed to kick start
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  your day in a positive way. I'm your host Andrew McGivern
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  for August 17th. Today is National Black Cat
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  Appreciation Day and it's about time these magnificent creatures
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  got the recognition they deserve.
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  For far too long, Black Cats have been the victims of
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  superstition, fear, and unfair stereotypes that have nothing to
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  do with their actual nature. Black Cat Appreciation Day exist
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  to dispel the myths and celebrate these beautiful
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  animals for what they really are.
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  Loving, playful, intelligent companions who just happened to
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  have sleek black coats. The sad truth is that Black Cats
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  are the least likely to be adopted from shelters, not
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  because there's anything wrong with them, but because of
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  centuries old superstitions that have somehow survived into the
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  modern world. In ancient Egypt, Black Cats
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  were actually considered sacred and brought good luck.
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  It wasn't until medieval Europe that they became associated with
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  witchcraft and bad luck, a reputation that is unfairly
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  stuck with them ever since. The reality Black Cats are just
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  cats. They're no more likely to bring
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  bad luck than a taddy or a calico.
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  They purred just as sweetly, lay just as enthusiastically, and
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  loved just as deeply as any other cat.
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  Their black coat simply make them even more striking and
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  elegant. Which brings us to today's quote
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  from Mark Twain, who had a sharp wit when it came to human
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  nature. You once said it's easier to
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  fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
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  Mark Twain's observation hits right at the heart of why Black
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  Cats face discrimination today. For centuries, people have been
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  fooled by superstitions about Black Cats bringing bad luck,
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  being associated with witches, or somehow being different than
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  other cats. And even when presented with
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  evidence that these beliefs are baseless, it's often easier for
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  people to stick with the familiar myth than to admit
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  they've been wrong. Think about it.
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  Every single day, millions of Black Cats around the world go
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  about normal cat business, sleeping in sunbeams, chasing
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  toys, hurrying on laps, and being perfectly ordinary,
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  wonderful companions. The evidence that they're just
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  regular cats is overwhelming. Yet the superstitions persist.
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  Twain understood that once an idea takes hold in their minds,
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  especially one that's been passed down through generations,
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  it becomes incredibly difficult to dislodge.
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  It's easier to continue believing the familiar story
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  than to question whether we might have been misled all
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  along. But here's the hopeful part.
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  Every time someone adopts a black cat and discovers how
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  amazing they are, that's one more person who's broken free
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  from the old foolishness. Every Black Cat Appreciation
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  Day, more people learn the truth and choose facts over folklore.
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  The Black Cats themselves, of course, couldn't care less about
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  our human superstitions. They're too busy being cats,
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  which is exactly as it should be.
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  I've known several Black Cats over the years, and I actually
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  had one for a while. We had a big mouse problem in a
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  townhouse we were living at a number of years ago and decided
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  to get a cat. And I've never been a cat guy.
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  I've always been a dog guy. And truthfully, I didn't like
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  cats. In fact, I hated cats.
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  I think I talked about this in a recent episode.
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  Anyways we got this black cat Jazz and she was an amazing
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  mouser. She was just this little kitten
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  and within within a few days she had eaten like 8 mice.
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  It was amazing. Anyways one day she just never
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  came back and after she was gone, few weeks later the mice
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  were back. So we got 2 cats to replace
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  Jazz, and we still have them to this day.
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  That was seven or eight years ago, so nothing wrong with Black
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  Cats. What I liked about Jazz wasn't
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  even her color, and really, I didn't even think about it.
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  It was her individual personality, her quirks, her
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  capacity for love and play just like any other cat.
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  But somehow, her sleek black coat made her bright eyes and
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  pink nose even more striking. So today, in honor of National
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  Black Cat Appreciation Day, maybe it's time to examine your
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  own prejudices, not just about cats, but about anything we
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  might be prejudging based on appearance rather than reality.
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  If you're thinking about adopting a pet, consider
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  visiting a shelter and meeting some of their Black Cats.
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  You might just find that the best luck a black cat can bring
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  is love and companionship, and they offer it every single day.
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  I'm Adam McGivern, signing off for now, but I'll be back
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  tomorrow. Same pod time, same pod station
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  with another daily quote.