Mark Twain

Man is the only animal that blushes – or needs to.

Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.

I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.

If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them.

What sort of philosophers are we, who know absolutely nothing about the origin and destiny of cats?

The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little.

Love is only one of many passions.

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

The savage bows down to idols of wood and stone: the civilized man to idols of flesh and blood.

Dear to us are those who love us… but dearer are those who reject us as unworthy, for they add another life; they build a heaven before us whereof we had not dreamed, and thereby supply to us new powers out of the recesses of the spirit, and urge us to new and unattempted performances.

Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new.

Twenty to twenty-five! These are the years! Dont be content with things as they are. Dont take No for an answer. Never submit to failure. Do not be fobbed off with mere personal success or acceptance. You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth. She has lived and thrived only by repeated subjugations.

Hate has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.

Our manners have been corrupted by communication with the saints.

There’s much more stupidity than there is malice in the world.

The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.

Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery.

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.