Quotes by Twain, Mark

"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
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"Necessity is the mother of taking chances."

Twain, Mark on necessity
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"Obscurity and competence: That is the life that is worth living."

Twain, Mark on obscurity
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"The banging and slamming and booming and crashing were something beyond belief. [On Lohengrin]"

Twain, Mark on opera   

"Hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, politics or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies. Broadly speaking, there are none but corn-pone opinions. And broadly speaking, Corn-Pone stands for Self-Approval. Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is Conformity."

Twain, Mark on opinions   

"It is difference of opinion that makes horse races."

Twain, Mark on opinions   

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

Twain, Mark on opinions
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"Public opinion is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God."

Twain, Mark on opinions
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"There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist, except an old optimist."

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

Twain, Mark on optimism
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"The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."

Twain, Mark on originality   

"Do not undervalue the headache. While it is at its sharpest it seems a bad investment; but when relief begins, the unexpired remainder is worth $4 a minute."

Twain, Mark on pain
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"My parents were neither very poor nor conspicuously honest."

Twain, Mark on parents and parenting   

"Stars are good too. I wish I could get some to put in my hair. But I suppose I never can. You would be surprised to find how far off they are, for they do not look it. When they first showed last night I tried to knock some down with a pole, but it didn't reach, which astonished me. Then I tried clods till I was all tired out, but I never got one. I did make some close shots, for I saw the black blot of the clod sail right into thee midst of the golden clusters forty or fifty times, just barely missing them, and if I could've held out a little longer, maybe I could've got one."

Twain, Mark on perseverance
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"The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit."

Twain, Mark on perseverance
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"There is nothing sadder than a young pessimist."

Twain, Mark on pessimism   

"Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom."

Twain, Mark on pessimism   

"If He Tom Sawyer had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."

Twain, Mark on philosophers and philosophy   

"If they had not landed there would be some reason for celebrating the fact."

Twain, Mark on pilgrims   

"Pity is for living, envy is for dead."

Twain, Mark on pity   

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

Twain, Mark on plagiarism
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"War talk by men who have been in a war is always interesting; whereas moon talk by a poet who has not been in the moon is likely to be dull."

Twain, Mark on poetry and poets   

"The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction."

Twain, Mark on war   

"A soiled baby, with a neglected nose, cannot be conscientiously regarded as a thing of beauty."

Twain, Mark on babies   

"We have not all had the good fortune to be ladies. We have not all been generals, or poets, or statesmen; but when the toast works down to the babies, we stand on common ground."

Twain, Mark on babies   

"A banker is a fellow who lends his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain."

Twain, Mark on bankers and banking
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"When the doctrine of allegiance to party can utterly up-end a man's moral constitution and make a temporary fool of him besides, what excuse are you going to offer for preaching it, teaching it, extending it, perpetuating it? Shall you say, the best good of the country demands allegiance to party? Shall you also say it demands that a man kick his truth and his conscience into the gutter, and become a mouthing lunatic, besides?"

Twain, Mark on politics   

"In statesmanship get the formalities right, never mind about the moralities."

Twain, Mark on politics   

"Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can."

Twain, Mark on politics   

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

Twain, Mark on politics
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"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."

Twain, Mark on popularity   

"He liked to like people, therefore people liked him."

Twain, Mark on popularity
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"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer."

Twain, Mark on prayer
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"More than once I had seen a noble who had gotten his enemy at a disadvantage stop to pray before cutting his throat."

Twain, Mark on prayer
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"You can't pray a lie."

Twain, Mark on prayer
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"Few sinners are saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon."

Twain, Mark on preachers and preaching
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"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   

"Prosperity is the best protector of principle."

Twain, Mark on principles   

"Principles aren't of much account anyway, except at election time. After that you hang them up to let them season."

Twain, Mark on principles