Top 10 Mark Twain Quotes
As Mark Twain once quipped, ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started.’ With that spirit in mind, let’s dive into my top ten favorite quotes from this legendary American writer and humorist.
Samuel Clemens (1835–1910), widely known by his pen name Mark Twain, was not only a prolific writer but also an entrepreneur and possibly the first American stand-up comic. His works ranged from the classic ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ to creative historical fiction tales like ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.’ Twain’s uncomplicated yet satirical style of communication remains accessible to readers across generations.
As a novice writer myself, I find inspiration in Twain’s ability to distill complex ideas into simple, memorable quotes. In this thread, I aim to share my personal favorite quotes from Mark Twain and offer my limited understanding of the wisdom they hold. While I strive to grasp the full depth of Twain’s words, I am likely to miss some obvious key points and nuances. I welcome your help in identifying any insights I may have overlooked. Join me in celebrating some of Twain’s under-recognized lessons and feel free to share your thoughts, feedback, and favorite quotes along the way.
1) “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
I often find myself stumbling over my own thoughts and unprepared to speak. It’s only once I open my daft mouth that I realize how productive that behavioral quality is. A person who listens carefully provides no evidence that they are unwise. A person who speaks carelessly provides ample evidence that they are not wise.
2) “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
Through free trade, technological development, and capital accumulation, the world has produced a greater abundance of resources than ever before. It is easy for us to envision a reallocation of said resources to better serve our own needs. The taking of resources from others through unjust means is never justified. We should strive to assume maximum responsibility for the production and development of our own lives.
3) “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
It’s easy and also seductive to identify things to dislike and call negative attention to, however, that doesn’t always translate to productive outcomes. Defining limits on what external factors we allow to affect us strengthens our resolve and focuses our energy on more productive efforts. Take, for instance, the phenomenon known as Trump Derangement syndrome (TDS). It garnered widespread attention for the way people allowed their anger towards Orange Man to consume their thoughts, cloud their judgment, and poison their love for the world. But let’s face it, the blame doesn’t solely rest on his shoulders. It’s a lesson in maturity to acknowledge that people will always do things we dislike. The true test lies in how we choose to respond and whether we allow their behavior to erode our own happiness and clarity of thought.
Now, I won’t claim to have mastered this art myself. Oh no, I’m quite sh*t at it, I suppose. I am guilty of stewing for weeks over being overcharged for chips and salsa. But recognizing the harmful effects of anger and actively working towards improvement is a sign of growth. It’s a conscious effort to define our limits, guard our well-being, and redirect our energy toward more productive endeavors.
4) “There is no distinctly American criminal class — except Congress.”
This quote speaks for itself.
5) “Familiarity breeds contempt- and children.”
Perfect synergy with two or more people is impossible, yet there is beauty in this reality. Healthy friendships and relationships follow an asymptotic curve where they approach synergy but never reach it. However, if we were to imagine ourselves isolated on an island with a limited number of people for the rest of our lives, it is likely that any drama we experience would be solely derived from those we share the island with.
6) “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
This is encouraging because I can take comfort in knowing I’m halfway there. Currently, my aim is to develop my writing confidence through daily practice, refining my skills with the help of personalized feedback from trusted individuals, engaging with AI applications, and, of course, a healthy amount of razzing from kind Twitter people.
7) “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
Exposure to new ideas, processes, and ways of life produces creative responses in our minds. Since there is no blueprint for navigating life, expanding our observations by casting a wide net helps us broaden our understanding of what is possible. Once it intersects with our creativity, each new piece of information we add to our understanding multiplies by a number of factors.
8) “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
There are two components I want to highlight in this idea. The first component is the importance of maintaining skepticism toward our comprehension of systems and ideas. Although it may not be comfortable, skepticism provides us with the flexibility to adapt to changing information. Take the example of a boat tied to a dock rising with an incoming tide and lowering with an outgoing tide. If the dock lines are too tight, they could be stressed and cause the boat to scrape against the dock. If the dock lines are too loose, the boat could drift away or collide powerfully with the dock. Our held beliefs should be appropriately tensioned, just like dock lines, so we don’t crash and can roll with changing conditions.
The second component is that information has never traveled faster in human history. We are susceptible to false news reports, unconfirmed scientific claims, and other misunderstandings. Before accepting something new as fact, we should strive for verification from different sources. This could be different personal accounts or different ways of testing the claims. It’s important that we limit our wants and desired outcomes to what simply is.
9) “If you don’t read the news you are uninformed, if you do read the news you are misinformed.”
A classic take on information theory. Most of us, myself included, seek out self-validating forms of news. I suspect there’s nothing inherently wrong with that if we maintain awareness and actively understand that by doing so, we are artificially creating our understanding of things. The issue arises when we encounter news that reinforces our existing beliefs, leading us to dismiss any inconclusive evidence or alternative perspectives.
10) “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.”
My favorite quote on this list. Our thoughts, feelings, fears, and emotions, among other things, are all intertwined within our individual experiences. When was the last time someone asked how your day was and you tried to explain all of the experiences you had that day? The words exchanged between coworkers may fail to capture the essence of the exchange. The short description of your commute to work did not communicate the ups and downs of your car ride.
This quote inspires me to recognize the importance of further developing empathy. I can witness another person’s experience but only have the slimmest understanding of it. Their real experience is only known to themselves.
If you’ve reached the end of this thread, I sincerely appreciate your time and patience in exploring my interpretation of these favorite Mark Twain quotes.