Mark Twain

Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.

Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain’t so.

The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk.

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don’t know anything and can’t read.

One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.

Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

There’s no limit to the things you can do.

Flawed and (still) worthy.

The finest clothing made is a person’s own skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this.

You can’t change other people or (some) conditions; you can change only your reactions to them.

When you allow a person’s words to upset you, you’re giving away your power.

The menu is not the meal.

We are each a figment of our own imagination.

We live in an era of tremendous facts. And the facts are facts. They are also unpleasant facts, which does not decrease their factual percentage one bit. Our job is to understand them, to recognize their presence, to learn if we can what they signify and not to fall into the error of minimizing facts because they have a bitter flavor.

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

“You should know our mania for building is stronger than ever. It is a diabolical thing. It consumes money and the more you build, the more you want to build. It’s a sickness like being addicted to alcohol.

When you do something that you really think is stupid, bad decision, irresponsibleand it just happens and you suffer it then that’s penalty. But if you learn from it it becomes tuition.

I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.

Every damn thing you do in this life, you have to pay for.

Life is like improvised jazz. We cannot regulate all the variables. We must play it with panache and flair as best we can.