Quotessence
Home / Authors / Mark Twain
Mark Twain

Mark Twain Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsPeopleFunnyKnowsWayInspirationalWorldHumorHumansInspirationYearsBookLifeReligionThinkingTwoHas BeensWritingLying

Famous Mark Twain Quotes

“Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all. That, of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still, while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable.”

GivingBelieveArtStillsUseYoungLyingCoursesI BelieveEducationPracticeOughtAuthorityStrongerAccomplishmentDeceitGreat ArtEleganceProfitablePrecision
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)
Create image

“The Bible is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies. This Bible is built mainly out of fragments of older Bibles that had their day and crumbled to ruin. So it noticeably lacks in originality, necessarily. Its three or four most imposing and impressive events all happened in earlier Bibles; there are only two new things in it: hell, for one, and that singular heaven I have told you about.”

TwoLyingThreeHeavenInterestWealthMoralHellFourHappenedBloodEventsThousandBuiltNobleCleverRuinsOriginalityNew ThingsFragmentsImpressiveFablesImposingObscenityGood Moral
Author:Mark Twain
Create image

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”

IfsLifeCharacterTruthRememberLyingHonestyCommunicationIntegrityCleverBeing HonestDeceptionTelling The TruthDeceitCheatingTruthfulFunny InspirationalLiedMake You ThinkChakraTruth And LiesBeing TruthfulTrustworthinessHonest TruthNever LieTruth And HonestyHonesty IntegrityTruth HonestyDon't LieHonesty And IntegrityUltimate TruthTruth Be ToldMy TruthNo MemoryHonest And IntegrityLies TruthTelling LiesBeing LiedBeirutTrust And RespectProfound TruthSaying The TruthWhite LieI Don't LieLiving A LieHidden TruthLies And LiarsTrust HonestyFinding Out The TruthTrust And HonestyHiding The TruthIntellectual HonestyTruth And RealityHonesty InspirationalYou LiedGood LiarHonest RelationshipTruth And KnowledgeSaying The Same Thing Over And OverDon't Lie To MeUnknown Things
Book:Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review
Create image

“A mighty porterhouse steak an inch and a half thick, hot and sputtering from the griddle; dusted with fragrant pepper; enriched with little melting bits of butter of the most impeachable freshness and genuineness; the precious juices of the meat trickling out and joining the gravy, archipelagoed with mushrooms; a township or two of tender, yellowish fat gracing an out-lying district of this ample county of beefsteak; the long white bone which divides the sirloin from the tenderloin still in its place.”

LittlesLongStillsTwoLyingBitsWhiteHalfHotBonesFatsMeatDividesThickInchesJuiceMeltingJoiningCountySteakMushroomsFreshnessPeppersGravyGenuineness
Author:Mark Twain
Create image

“The wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously; to lie with a good object, and not an evil one; to lie for others' advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, maliciously; to lie gracefully and graciously, not awkwardly and clumsily; to lie firmly, frankly, squarely, with head erect, not haltingly, tortuously, with pusillanimous mien, as being ashamed of our high calling.”

LyingEvilWiseObjectsCallingAdvantageTrainAshamed
Book:The Complete Works of Mark Twain: All 13 Novels, Short Stories, Poetry and Essays
Create image

“Everybody lies...every day, every hour, awake, asleep, in his dreams, in his joy, in his mourning. If he keeps his tongue still his hands, his feet, his eyes, his attitude will convey deception.”

IfsStillsDreamHandsEyeJoyLyingHoursAttitudeFeetTongueDeceptionAwakeMourningHis EyesEverybody Lies
Book:The Complete Works of Mark Twain: All 13 Novels, Short Stories, Poetry and Essays
Create image

“If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory!”

IfsNeedsTruthLyingMemoriesHonestyIntegrityBeing HonestTelling The TruthLiarsTruthfulLiedMake You ThinkGood MemoriesChakraTruth And LiesBeing TruthfulTrustworthinessHonest TruthNever LieTruth And HonestyHonesty IntegrityTruth HonestyHonesty And IntegrityTruth Be ToldMy TruthNo MemoryHonest And IntegrityLies TruthTelling LiesBeing LiedBeirutTrust And RespectLeadership IntegrityProfound TruthSaying The TruthWhite LieNot HonestHidden TruthLies And LiarsTrust HonestyNot TrustingFinding Out The TruthTrust And HonestyHiding The TruthIntellectual HonestyTruth And RealityDishonesty And LyingHonesty InspirationalGood LiesYou LiedGood LiarHonest RelationshipTruth And Knowledge
Book:Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: by Mark Twain (Illustrated and Unabridged)
Create image

“The motto stated a lie. If this nation has ever trusted in God, that time has gone by; for nearly half a century almost its entire trust has been in the Republican party and the dollar--mainly the dollar. I recognize that I am only making an assertion and furnishing no proof; I am sorry, but this is a habit of mine; sorry also that I am not alone in it; everybody seems to have this disease.”

IfsHas BeensGodSeemsLyingNationsPartyHalfGoneCenturyMinesHabitRepublicanDiseaseDollarsSorryPositive AtheismProofTrustedRepublican PartyMottoNot AloneAssertionI Am SorryAm SorryHalf A Century
Book:Mark Twain in Eruption (Abridged, Annotated)
Create image

“The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

MenWarSelfTruthPoliticalLyingNationsPeaceProcessEnjoySleepStudyConscienceBlameRefuseEvery ManGladTyrannyDeceptionConvinceTyrantsThank GodAntiwarSelf DeceptionStatesmenSoothingGrotesqueFalsityRefutationWar Propaganda
Book:The Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated Edition): Novels, Short Stories, Memoir, Travel Books, Letters, Biography, Articles & Speeches: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, Yankee in King Arthur's Court…
Create image

“My own luck has been curious all my literary life; I never could tell a lie that anyone would doubt, nor a truth that anybody would believe.”

BelieveHas BeensTruthLyingMy OwnDoubtLuckCurious
Book:MARK TWAIN - The Man Behind the Humor: Complete Autobiographical Books & Biographies: The Complete Travel Books, Essays, Autobiographical Writings, Speeches & Letters, With Author’s Biography; The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi, What Is Man, Christian Science…
Create image

“An injurious truth has no merit over an injurious lie. Neither should ever be uttered. The man who speaks an injurious truth, lest his soul be not saved if he do otherwise, should reflect that that sort of a soul is not strictly worth saving.”

IfsMenShouldSoulTruthLyingSpeakHe ManSavedSavingMerit
Book:The Complete Works of Mark Twain: All 13 Novels, Short Stories, Poetry and Essays
Create image

“As soon as a man recognizes that he has drifted into age, he gets reminiscent. He wants to talk and talk; and not about the present or the future, but about his old times. For there is where the pathos of his life lies - and the charm of it. The pathos of it is there because it was opulent with treasures that are gone, and the charm of it is in casting them up from the musty ledgers and remembering how rich and gracious they were.”

MenWantAgeRememberLyingGoneRichTreasureCharmCastingGraciousPathosOld Time
Book:Who Is Mark Twain?
Create image

“Warm summer sun, shine kindly here. Warm southern wind, blow softly here. Green sod above, lie light, lie light. Good night, dear Heart, Good night, good night.”

HeartLightLyingNightSunSweetWindSummerRomanticGreenShiningDearBlowWarmSouthernGood NightEpitaphSummertimeSun ShinesHeadstoneGravestoneGoodnightSodSummer SunDear Heart
Book:The Mark Twain Autobiography + 3 Biographies: 4 Mark Twain Biographies In 1 Book: Chapters From My Autobiography By Mark Twain + My Mark Twain By William Dean Howells’ + Mark Twain A Biography By Albert Bigelow Paine + The Boys’ Life Of Mark Twain By Albert Bigelow Paine
Create image

“Evolution is a blind giant who rolls a snowball down a hill. The ball is made of flakes-circumstances. They contribute to the mass without knowing it. They adhere without intention, and without foreseeing what is to result. When they see the result they marvel at the monster ball and wonder how the contriving of it came to be originally thought out and planned. Whereas there was no such planning, there was only a law: the ball once started, all the circumstances that happened to lie in its path would help to build it, in spite of themselves.”

MadeHelpingLawLyingResultsWonderKnowingPathHappenedEvolutionCircumstancesMassBallsBlindIntentionMonstersPlanningHillsGiantsSpiteFlakesSnowballForeseeing
Author:Mark Twain
Create image