Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, humorist

Modern influential 212 sayings

Sayings by Mark Twain

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.

Late 19th - early 20th century (approximate) — Widely attributed. A common quip characteristic of his wit.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me; I always feel that they have not said enough.

c. 1906-1909 (written) — From 'Mark Twain's Autobiography'.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.

1897 — From 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar' in 'Following the Equator'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.

1897 — From 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar' in 'Following the Equator'.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.

Late 19th - early 20th century (approximate) — Widely attributed.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

c. 1898 — From 'Mark Twain's Notebook'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.

c. 1897-1908 (written), 1916 (published posthumously) — From 'The Mysterious Stranger'.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Why is it that we can remember the least important things and forget the most important things?

c. 1898 — From 'Mark Twain's Notebook'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

Late 19th - early 20th century (approximate) — Widely attributed. Reflects his self-taught nature.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.

c. 1909 (written), 1962 (published posthumously) — From 'Letters from the Earth'.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

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.

c. 1906-1909 (written) — From 'Mark Twain's Autobiography'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.

1897 — From 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar' in 'Following the Equator'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I have found that the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

Late 19th - early 20th century (approximate) — Widely attributed. A humorous and cynical take on parenting.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

There is no humor in heaven.

c. 1906-1909 (written) — From 'Mark Twain's Autobiography'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The very first thing which a man has to do, in order to learn how to do a thing, is to learn how to unlearn it.

1895 — From the essay 'How to Tell a Story'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I wish to make a doctrine that I shall call the Law of Periodical Repetition. It will be this: The human race is a repetition, a repetition, a repetition.

c. 1898 — From 'Mark Twain's Notebook'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Why shouldn't I be an optimist? I have nothing to lose.

c. 1898 — From 'Mark Twain's Notebook'.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The human being is a machine. An automatic machine. It does not reason. It merely acts upon the impulse of the moment.

1906 — From 'What Is Man?' (dialogue between a Young Man and an Old Man).
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

1897 — From 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar' in 'Following the Equator'.
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

It is discouraging to try to penetrate a mind like yours. You ought to get it thoroughly fumigated, and then put in a new lot of furniture.

1868 — From a letter to Mary Mason Fairbanks.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable