Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was more than just the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was a keen observer of human nature, blending humour with sharp truths about life, society, and morality.
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
- “The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
- “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”
- “Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions.”
- “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
- “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”
- “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”
- “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
- “Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”
- “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
- “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”
- “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”
- “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”
- “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”
- “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”
- “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
- “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
- “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
- “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
- “The funniest things are forbidden.”
- “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
- “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
- “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
- “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”
- “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
- “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
- “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”
- “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
- “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.”
- “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
- “Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that.”
- “With courage, you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble.”
- “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
- “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
- “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
- “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
- “Do what you can with what you’ve got where you are.”
- “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
- “Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”
- “Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s acting in spite of it.”
- “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
- “Never let formal education get in the way of your learning.”
- “Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.”
- “Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.”
- “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.”
- “It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others.”
- “The man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”
- “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”
- “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
- “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
- “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
- “Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul.”
- “The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.”
- “The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.”
- “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
- “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
- “Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel.”
- “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
- “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
- “The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
- “Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths.”
- “When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.”
- “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
- “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”
- “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
- “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”
- “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.”
- “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.”
- “The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.”
- “The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.”
- “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.”
- “Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”
- “Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”
- “Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”
- “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”
- “Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”
- “A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.”
- “Don’t wake up the world with your troubles. Let it sleep.”
- “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
- “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”
- “Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.”
- “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well.”
- “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
- “Familiarity breeds contempt—and children.”
- “When in doubt, tell the truth.”
- “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
- “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
- “Honesty is the best policy—when there is money in it.”
- “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living.”
- “Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.”
- “The trouble is not in dying for a friend, but in finding a friend worth dying for.”
- “Name the greatest of all inventors: Accident.”
- “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.”
- “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”
- “All generalizations are false, including this one.”
- “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
- “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
- “Do something every day that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.”
- “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.”
- “Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
Mark Twain’s quotes prove why he remains one of the most quoted figures in history. His humour, honesty, and sharp observations about life, human nature, and society still resonate today.
