Mark Twain Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Mark Twain quotes, Mark Twain sayings, and Mark Twain proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. Mark Twain
Familiarity breeds contempt, and children. Mark Twain
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Mark Twain
Distance lends enchantment to the view. Mark Twain
Lord save us all from old age and broken health and a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. Mark Twain
Lying is universal--we all do it; we all must do it. Mark Twain
A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection for it, and it only is respected by wars and revolutions and survives them. Mark Twain
There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. Mark Twain
What is the most rigorous law of our being? Growth. No smallest atom of our moral, mental, or physical structure can stand still a year. It grows — it must grow; nothing can prevent it. Mark Twain
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Mark Twain
Comedy keeps the heart sweet. Mark Twain
You don't make your character in a crises; you exhibit it. Mark Twain
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. Mark Twain
It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. Mark Twain
I refused to attend his funeral. But I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it. Mark Twain
Why is it that we rejoice at birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved. Mark Twain
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Mark Twain
Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth. Mark Twain
I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way. Mark Twain
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it. Mark Twain
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, I mean. Mark Twain
I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position. Mark Twain
The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice. Mark Twain
In the real world, the right thing never happens in the right place and the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to make it appear that it has. Mark Twain
The man who does not read good books is at no advantage over the man that can't read them. Mark Twain
Faith is believing what you know ain't so. Mark Twain
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. Mark Twain
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. Mark Twain
Everyone's private motto: It's better to be popular than right. Mark Twain
To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with. Mark Twain