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
action fine happiness heroic people telling unhappy
There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one: keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy
brave compliment creature except loose merely word
Except a creature be part coward, it is not a compliment to say he is brave; it is merely a loose misapplication of the word
brave bravest compliment consider coward creature creatures except fear ignorance loose merely
Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave; it is merely a loose application of the word. Consider the flea! -- incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage.
answer compliments embarrass great
There is nothing you can say in answer to a compliment. I have been complimented myself a great many times, and they always embarrass me --I always feel that they have not said enough.
complaint complaints-and-complaining compliment courteous gentle ought precede resentment
I think a compliment ought to always precede a complaint, where one is possible, because it softens resentment and insures for the complaint a courteous and gentle reception.
distort facts
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
balls good lost pick rolling
It's good sportsmanship not to pick up lost balls while they are still rolling
editor excellent meddle needs perfect political serve shall term
I shall not often meddle with politics, because we have a political Editor who is already excellent and only needs to serve a term or two in the penitentiary to be perfect
lies-and-lying standard washington
I am different from Washington. I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won't.
cure faith strong
Any mummery will cure if the patient's faith is strong in it.
banker begins fellow lends minute rain shining sun umbrella wants
A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain
american-author creature god man work
Man - a creature made at the end of the week's work when God was tired.
beings deserve dishonor human
Human beings feel dishonor the most, sometimes, when they most deserve it
develops love thwarted
Love is a madness; if thwarted it develops fast.