Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyerand its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called "The Great American Novel"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth30 November 1835
CountryUnited States of America
book wine water
My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.
cannot caprice convention diseased nature opposed reason subject therefore whim
The convention miscalled 'modesty' has no standard, and cannot have one, because it is opposed to nature and reason and is therefore an artificiality and subject to anybody's whim - anybody's diseased caprice
inspirational life judgement
Good judgement is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgement.
america benevolent buried burned destroyed dozens exile furnished god heartbreak millions mine name orphans phrase pious remaining thousands turned widows
We have pacified some thousands of the islanders and buried them; destroyed their fields; burned their villages, and turned their widows and orphans out-of-doors; furnished heartbreak by exile to some dozens of disagreeable patriots; subjugated the remaining 10 millions by Benevolent Assimilation, which is the pious new name of the musket. And so, by these Providences of God -- and the phrase is the government's, not mine -- we are a World Power.
past years numbers
You have noticed that the human being is a curiosity. In times past he has had (and worn out and flung away) hundreds and hundreds of religions; today he has hundreds and hundreds of religions, and launches not fewer than three new ones every year. I could enlarge on that number and still be within the facts.
inspirational courage integrity
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.
best history itself repeat rhymes
History doesn't repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes
character history impossible preventing repeating worthwhile
It is not worthwhile to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible
cannot heaven shall stay swear
If I cannot swear in heaven I shall not stay there.
average believes certain consists man religion thinks wishes
Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain
men demand double-standard
The timid man yearns for full value and demands a tenth. The bold man strikes for double value and compromises on par.
cannot escape life pity
It is a pity that we cannot escape from life when we are young.
best case judge lie man thinks
It is often the case that the man who can't tell a lie thinks he is the best judge of one
best horse opinion
It is not best that we all should think alike, it is differences of opinion that make horse races.