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
author
I have been an author for 22 years and an ass for 55
except force principles
I find that principles have no real force except when one is well fed.
christ christian
If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be - a Christian
approved attend letter nice saying wrote
I did not attend his funeral, but I wrote a nice letter saying I approved of it
law lawsuit literary looking meditating rest work year
I can't do literary work for the rest of this year because I'm meditating another lawsuit and looking around for a defendant
age age-and-aging dark insanity knew misfortune
(Twain on Cain): it was his misfortune to live in a dark age that knew not the beneficent Insanity Plea
divide full joy love scholars-and-scholarship value
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
acts himself known led life none wee
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
lightning thunder
Thunder is impressive, but it is lightning that does the work.
action lightning thunder work
Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work
action firmly ground nose threw top
Thrusting my nose firmly between his teeth, I threw him heavily to the ground on top of me
cease easiest ought smoking thousand
To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did, I ought to know because I've done it a thousand times.
afflict amusing array arrest ashamed bunch cash civilization corner government high holy hottest introduce islands lamp life loose moral novelty poor primitive simple sleepy splendor turn wise
We must annex those people. We can afflict them with our wise and beneficent government. We can introduce the novelty of thieves, all the way up from street-car pickpockets to municipal robbers and Government defaulters, and show them how amusing it is to arrest them and try them and then turn them loose -- some for cash and some for ''political influence.'' We can make them ashamed of their simple and primitive justice. We can make that little bunch of sleepy islands the hottest corner on earth, and array it in the moral splendor of our high and holy civilization. Annexation is what the poor islanders need. ''Shall we to men benighted, the lamp of life deny?''
easiest habit ought smoking stop thousand
To stop smoking is the easiest thing I ever did. I ought to know; I've done it a thousand times.