"Obscurity and competence: That is the life that is worth living."

Twain, Mark on obscurity
3 fans of this quote   

"Warm summer sun, shine kindly here. Warm southern wind, blow softly here. Green sod above, lie light, lie light. Good night, dear Heart, Good night, good night."

Twain, Mark on nature
5 fans of this quote   

"Switzerland is simply a large, lumpy, solid rock with a thin skin of grass stretched over it."

Twain, Mark on nations
3 fans of this quote   

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country."

Twain, Mark on nations
6 fans of this quote   

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

Twain, Mark on mothers
9 fans of this quote   

"His money is twice tainted: taint yours and taint mine."

Twain, Mark on money   

"The lack of money is the root of all evils."

Twain, Mark on money   

"Few sinners are saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon."

Twain, Mark on preachers and preaching
3 fans of this quote   

"To do something, say something, see something, before anybody else -- these are things that confer a pleasure compared with which other pleasures are tame and commonplace, other ecstasies cheap and trivial."

Twain, Mark on precedents   

"I find that principles have no real force except when one is well fed."

Twain, Mark on principles   

"There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy."

Twain, Mark on biography
6 fans of this quote   

"We need not worry so much about what man descends from; it's what he descends to that shames the human race."

Twain, Mark on success
9 fans of this quote   

"There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Twain, Mark on statistics
4 fans of this quote   

"There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can."

Twain, Mark on speculation
6 fans of this quote   

"If you have nothing to say, say nothing."

Twain, Mark on speakers and speaking
6 fans of this quote   

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been."

Twain, Mark on smile
6 fans of this quote   

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

Twain, Mark on secrets
10 fans of this quote   

"It is a good idea to obey all the rules when you're young just so you'll have the strength to break them when you're old."

Twain, Mark on rules
8 fans of this quote   

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

Twain, Mark on right and rightness
7 fans of this quote   

"It is a good and gentle religion, but inconvenient."

Twain, Mark on religion   

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits."

Twain, Mark on reform
5 fans of this quote   

"When you ascend the hill of prosperity, may you not meet a friend."

Twain, Mark on prosperity   

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

Twain, Mark on procrastination
9 fans of this quote   

"The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig-leaf."

Twain, Mark on modesty   

"Temperate temperance is best; intemperate temperance injures the cause of temperance."

Twain, Mark on moderation
3 fans of this quote   

"If you are speaking the truth you don't have to remember anything."

Twain, Mark on memory
5 fans of this quote   

"Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on patience
4 fans of this quote   

"Opposition always enflames the enthusiast, never converts him."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on opposition
3 fans of this quote   

"The voice of the majority is no proof of justice."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on masses
3 fans of this quote   

"The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on achievement
9 fans of this quote   

"The jest loses its point when he who makes it is the first to laugh."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on jest   

"Posterity weaves no garlands for imitators."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on imitation   

"Mankind is made great or little by its own will."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on humankind   

"There is room in the smallest cottage for a happy loving pair."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on home   

"Historians are prophets with their face turned backward."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on history and historians   

"Grace is the beauty of form under the influence of freedom."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on grace
3 fans of this quote   

"While the womanly god demands our veneration, the godlike woman kindles our love; but while we allow ourselves to melt in the celestial loveliness, the celestial self-sufficiency holds us back in awe."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on god   

"The lamp of genius burns quicker than the lamp of life."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on genius   

"The future comes slowly, the present flies and the past stands still forever."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on the future
11 fans of this quote   

"Friends show me what I can do, foes teach me what I should do."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on friends and friendship