Quotes from Mark Twain

It's an epitome of life. The first half of it consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity.

There has been much tragedy in my life; at least half of it actually happened.

Prosperity is the best protector of principle.

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.

It put our energies to sleep and made visionaries of us - dreamers and indolent... It is good to begin life poor; it is good to begin life rich - these are wholesome; but to begin it prospectively rich! The man who has not experienced it cannot imagine the curse of it.

Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.

It's considered good sportsmanship not to pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.

It is a good idea to obey all the rules when you're young just so you'll have the strength to break them when you're old.

But it was ever thus, all through my life: whenever I have diverged from custom and principle and uttered a truth, the rule has been that the hearer hadn't strength of mind enough to believe it.

If horses knew their strength we should not ride anymore.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires constant effort, vigilance and reevaluation.

Make your vocation your vacation. That is the secret to success.

There's always something about your success that displeases even your best friends.

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether. A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer. All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

What do we call love, hate, charity, revenge, humanity, forgiveness? Different results of the master impulse, the necessity of securing one's self-approval.

Human nature is the same everywhere; it deifies success, it has nothing but scorn for defeat.

We need not worry so much about what man descends from; it's what he descends to that shames the human race.

I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened.

The miracle or the power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application and perseverance under the promptings of a brave, determined spirit.

The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the life too closely examined may not be lived at all.