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
inspiration wine pens
Wine is a clog to the pen, not an inspiration.
dog stars philosophical
I love to revel in philosophical matters-especially astronomy. I study astronomy more than any other foolishness there is. I am a perfect slave to it. I am at it all the time. I have got more smoked glass than clothes. I am as familiar with the stars as the comets are. I know all the facts and figures and have all the knowledge there is concerning them. I yelp astronomy like a sun-dog, and paw the constellations like Ursa Major.
men age world
By common consent of all the nations and all the ages the most valuable thing in this world is the homage of men, whether deserved or undeserved.
civilization pioneers railroads
The true pioneer of civilization is not the newspaper, not religion, not the railroad - but whiskey!
gambling long whiskey
It was a place of sin, loose women, whiskey and gambling. It was no place for a good Presbyterian, and I did not long remain one.
rooms whiskey committees
Whiskey is carried into committee rooms in demijohns and carried out in demagogues.
matter way
How far we travel in life matters far less than those we meet along the way.
men one-man urges
There is no urge so great as for one man to edit another man's work.
motto
Everybody's private motto: It's better to be popular than right.
writing perfect done
No one can write perfect English and keep it up through a stretch of ten chapters. It has never been done.
rhyme repeats
History doesn't repeat itself; it rhymes.
race want doe
Why should anybody want to save the human race, or damn it either? Does God want its society? Does Satan?
ideas
The ancients stole all our ideas from us.
use fifty dollars
Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.