Samuel L. Clemens October 26, 2014 http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2811/32/Genius-33-Mark-Twain-quotes-that-prove-he-was-an-American-treasure-.html Quotations-MarkTwain.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Honesty "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Source: "Mark Twain's Notebook" edited by Albert Paine. 2. Consensus "Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." Source: "Mark Twain's Notebook" edited by Albert Paine. 3. Loyalty "Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world — and never will." Source: "Bite-Size Twain" by Mark Twain. 4. Imagination "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Source: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain 5. Adventures "I started out alone to seek adventures. You don't really have to seek them—that is nothing but a phrase—they come to you." Source: "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain. 6. Insanity "All Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it; none but the Republicans and Mugwumps know it. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats and Mugwumps can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane." Source: "Christian Science" by Mark Twain. 7. Morality "The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." Source: "What Is Man? and Other Philosophical Writings" by Mark Twain 8. Popularity "The best of us would rather be popular than right." Source: "No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger" By Mark Twain 9. Judgement "I have no race prejudices nor caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. All I care to know is that a man is a human being, and that is enough for me; he can't be any worse." Source: "Concerning the Jews" by Mark Twain. 10. Relativity "Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size." Source: "Which was the Dream?" By Mark Twain 11. Advertising "Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising." Source: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" BY Mark Twain 12. Associated Press Temptation "To promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing." Source: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain 13. Decisiveness "I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up." Source: "The Innocents Abroad" By Mark Twain 14. Exposure "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." Source: "The Innocents Abroad" By Mark Twain 15. Humanity "I haven't a particle of confidence in a man who has no redeeming petty vices whatsoever." Source: "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches" by Mark Twain 16. Danger "Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run." Source: "Mark Twain's sketches, new and old" By Mark Twain 17. Commonality "We haven't all had the good fortune to be ladies; we haven't all been generals, or poets, or statesmen; but when the toast works down to the babies, we stand on common ground." Source: "The Writings of Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer abroad. Tom Sawyer, detective, etc" By Mark Twain. 18. Politics "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Source: "Mark Twain, a biography" by Albert Paine 19. Respect "Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any." Source: "Mark Twain Speaking" by Paul Fatout 20. Growth "As I slowly grow wise I briskly grow cautious." Source: "The Century" volume 33. 21. Conformity "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape." Source: "More Tramps Abroad" By Mark Twain. 22. Humor "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments flit away and a sunny spirit takes their place." Source: "What Paul Bourget Thinks of Us?" By Mark Twain 23. Truth "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." Source: "An Interview with Mark Twain" by Rudyard Kipling 24. Choices "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest." Source: As quoted by Marilyn L. Grady in "20 Biggest Mistakes Principals Make and How to Avoid Them" 25. Oratory "When a great orator makes a great speech you are listening to ten centuries and ten thousand men — but we call it his speech, and really some exceedingly small portion of it is his." Source: Letter to Helen Keller, 17 March 1903. 26. Wikimedia commons Innovation "It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing—and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others." Source: Letter to Helen Keller, 17 March 1903. 27. Vestments "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." Source: "When in Doubt, Tell the Truth: And Other Quotations from Mark Twain" 28. Humility "Always acknowledge a fault frankly. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you opportunity to commit more." Source: "Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations" 29. Humor "Humor must not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever. By forever, I mean thirty years." Source: "The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain" edited by Charles Neider 30. Courage "It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare." Source: As quoted by Al Gini and Ronald M. Green in "Ten Virtues of Outstanding Leaders: Leadership and Character" 31. Honesty "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar." Source: As quoted by David Graham in "The Philosophy of Mark Twain: The Wit and Wisdom of a Literary Genius" 32. Genius "Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered — either by themselves or by others. But for the Civil War, Lincoln and Grant and Sherman and Sheridan would not have been discovered, nor have risen into notice." Source: The Autobiography of Mark Twain (1960) 33. Principles "Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed." Source: "Extracts from Adam's Diary" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Alphabetical Adventures "I started out alone to seek adventures. You don't really have to seek them—that is nothing but a phrase—they come to you." Source: "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain. Advertising "Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising." Source: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" BY Mark Twain Associated Press Temptation "To promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing." Source: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain Choices "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest." Source: As quoted by Marilyn L. Grady in "20 Biggest Mistakes Principals Make and How to Avoid Them" Commonality "We haven't all had the good fortune to be ladies; we haven't all been generals, or poets, or statesmen; but when the toast works down to the babies, we stand on common ground." Source: "The Writings of Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer abroad. Tom Sawyer, detective, etc" By Mark Twain. Conformity "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape." Source: "More Tramps Abroad" By Mark Twain. Consensus "Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." Source: "Mark Twain's Notebook" edited by Albert Paine. Courage "It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare." Source: As quoted by Al Gini and Ronald M. Green in "Ten Virtues of Outstanding Leaders: Leadership and Character" Danger "Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run." Source: "Mark Twain's sketches, new and old" By Mark Twain Decisiveness "I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up." Source: "The Innocents Abroad" By Mark Twain Exposure "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." Source: "The Innocents Abroad" By Mark Twain Genius "Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered — either by themselves or by others. But for the Civil War, Lincoln and Grant and Sherman and Sheridan would not have been discovered, nor have risen into notice." Source: The Autobiography of Mark Twain (1960) Growth "As I slowly grow wise I briskly grow cautious." Source: "The Century" volume 33. Honesty "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar." Source: As quoted by David Graham in "The Philosophy of Mark Twain: The Wit and Wisdom of a Literary Genius" Honesty "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Source: "Mark Twain's Notebook" edited by Albert Paine. Humanity "I haven't a particle of confidence in a man who has no redeeming petty vices whatsoever." Source: "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches" by Mark Twain Humility "Always acknowledge a fault frankly. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you opportunity to commit more." Source: "Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations" Humor "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments flit away and a sunny spirit takes their place." Source: "What Paul Bourget Thinks of Us?" By Mark Twain Humor "Humor must not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever. By forever, I mean thirty years." Source: "The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain" edited by Charles Neider Imagination "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Source: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain Insanity "All Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it; none but the Republicans and Mugwumps know it. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats and Mugwumps can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane." Source: "Christian Science" by Mark Twain. Judgement "I have no race prejudices nor caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. All I care to know is that a man is a human being, and that is enough for me; he can't be any worse." Source: "Concerning the Jews" by Mark Twain. Loyalty "Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world — and never will." Source: "Bite-Size Twain" by Mark Twain. Morality "The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." Source: "What Is Man? and Other Philosophical Writings" by Mark Twain Oratory "When a great orator makes a great speech you are listening to ten centuries and ten thousand men — but we call it his speech, and really some exceedingly small portion of it is his." Source: Letter to Helen Keller, 17 March 1903. Politics "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Source: "Mark Twain, a biography" by Albert Paine Popularity "The best of us would rather be popular than right." Source: "No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger" By Mark Twain Principles "Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed." Source: "Extracts from Adam's Diary" Relativity "Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size." Source: "Which was the Dream?" By Mark Twain Respect "Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any." Source: "Mark Twain Speaking" by Paul Fatout Truth "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." Source: "An Interview with Mark Twain" by Rudyard Kipling Vestments "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." Source: "When in Doubt, Tell the Truth: And Other Quotations from Mark Twain" Wikimedia commons Innovation "It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing—and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others." Source: Letter to Helen Keller, 17 March 1903. ----------------------------------------------------------------------