Mark Twain quotes

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read.

'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read.

Buy land, they're not making it anymore.

Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.

The lack of money is the root of all evil.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

Don't let schooling interfere with your education.

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.

I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, I have friends in both places.

I once sent a dozen of my friends a telegram saying 'flee at once - all is discovered.' They all left town immediately.

A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.

Better a broken promise than none at all.

Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.

Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.

God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.

Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

He is now rising from affluence to poverty.

I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.

I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me; I always feel that they have not said enough.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.

All right, then, I'll go to hell.

Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.

George Washington, as a boy, was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth. He could not even lie.

Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape.

Adam was the only man who, when he said a good thing, knew that nobody had said it before him.

Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.

Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.

As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain from smoking when awake.

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.

Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written.

By trying we can easily endure adversity. Another man's, I mean.

Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.

Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

Duties are not performed for duty's sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty - the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let me label you as they may.

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.

Etiquette requires us to admire the human race.

Everything has its limit - iron ore cannot be educated into gold.

Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.

Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.

Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it.

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

Happiness is a Swedish sunset; it is there for all, but most of us look the other way and lose it.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.

Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

I do not like work even when someone else does it.

I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell -- you see, I have friends in both places.

I have made it a rule never to smoke more that one cigar at a time.

I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting.

I make it a rule never to smoke while I'm sleeping.

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up.

I never let schooling interfere with my education.

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know.

I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.

I've never let my school interfere with my education.

Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.

If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.

In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.

India has 2,000,000 gods, and worships them all. In religion, other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.

It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.

It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

It is by the goodness of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either.

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

It is easier to stay out than get out.

It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.

It is noble to be good; it is still nobler to teach others to be good - and less trouble.

It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.

It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.

It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.

Just the omission of Jane Austen's books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it.

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.

Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.

Let us not be too particular; it is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.

Life should begin with age and its privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and its capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages.

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.

Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.

Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.

Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.

Man - a creature made at the end of the week's work when God was tired.

Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to.

Man was made at the end of the week's work when God was tired.

Man will do many things to get himself loved, he will do all things to get himself envied.

Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.

Martyrdom covers a multitude of sins.

Most writers regard truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.

My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.

Necessity is the mother of taking chances.

Never put off till to-morrow what you can do day after to-morrow just as well.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.

No sinner is ever saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon.

Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.

Of all the animals, man is the only one that lies.

Of the delights of this world man cares most for sexual intercourse, yet he has left it out of his heaven.

Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.

One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.

One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.

Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial "we."

Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.

Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed.

Prophesy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks.

Prosperity is the best protector of principle.

Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I have tested it.

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late.

Sacred cows make the best hamburger.

Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.

Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Such is the human race, often it seems a pity that Noah... didn't miss the boat.

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

The Christian's Bible is a drug store. Its contents remain the same, but the medical practice changes.

The conviction of the rich that the poor are happier is no more foolish than the conviction of the poor that the rich are.

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

The educated Southerner has no use for an 'R', except at the beginning of a word.

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.

The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.

The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.

The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.

The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that can be learned in no other way.

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.

The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.

The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it.

The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.

The problem is not that we have too many fools, it's that the lightning isn't distributed right.

The Public is merely a multiplied "me."

The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.

The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it.

The reason why truth is so much stranger than fiction is that there is no requirement for it to be consistent.

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow; there is no humor in Heaven.

The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.

The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.

The wit knows that his place is at the tail of a procession.

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.

There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one - keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one: keep from telling their happinesses to the unhappy.

There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it. How strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has gone dry.

There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.

There are times when one would like to hang the whole human race, and finish the farce.

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.

There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.

To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.

To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did. I ought to know because I've done it a thousand times.

To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal.

To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.

Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain't so.

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.

Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.

We Americans... bear the ark of liberties of the world.

We are all alike, on the inside.

We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove.

We have the best government that money can buy.

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again - and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.

Well enough for old folks to rise early, because they have done so many mean things all their lives they can't sleep anyhow.

What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.

What a wee little part of a person's life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself.

What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.

What would men be without women? Scarce, sir, mighty scarce.

What, sir, would the people of the earth be without woman? They would be scarce, sir, almighty scarce.

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.

When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.

When in doubt tell the truth.

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet in his private heart no man much respects himself.

When red-haired people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn.

When the human race has once acquired a supersitition nothing short of death is ever likely to remove it.

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.

When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.

Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved.

Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.

Wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which before their union were not perceived to have any relation.

With ignorance and arrogance, success is assured.

Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself.

Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.

Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

Your faith is what you believe, not what you know.