Mark Twain Quotes, Lying Quotes, Race Quotes

When whole races and peoples conspire to propagate gigantic mute lies in the interest of tyrannies and shams, why should we care anything about the trifling lies told by individuals?

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Lying Quotes , Race Quotes

an Autobiography is the truest of all books; for while it inevitably consists mainly of extinctions of the truth, shirkings of the truth, partial revealments of the truth, with hardly an instance of plain straight truth, the remorseless truth is there, between the lines, where the author-cat is raking dust upon it which hides from the disinterested spectator neither it nor its smell... the result being that the reader knows the author in spite of his wily diligences.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Book Quotes , Cat Quotes

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English―it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them―then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Flower Quotes , Writing Quotes

One frequently only finds out how really beautiful a really beautiful woman is after considerable acquaintance with her; and the rule applies to Niagara Falls, to majestic mountains, and to mosques-especially to mosques.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Funny Quotes , Beauty Quotes

The inability to forget is far more devastating than the inability to remember.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Humor Quotes , Deep Thought Quotes

There is nothing that saps one's confidence as the knowing how to do a thing

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Confidence Quotes , Knowing Quotes

We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one private, which we are afraid to express; and another one - the one we use - which we force ourselves to wear to please Mrs. Grundy, until habit makes us comfortable in it, and the custom of defending it presently makes us love it, adore it, and forget how pitifully we came by it. Look at it in politics.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Love Quotes , Sheep Quotes

Low comedies are written for the drawing-room, the kitchen and the stable, and if you cut out the kitchen and the stable the drawing-room can't support the play by itself.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Cutting Quotes , Play Quotes

Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Death Quotes , Motivational Sports Quotes

No one can tell me what is a good cigar - for me. I am the only judge. People who claim to know say that I smoke the worst cigars in the world. They bring their own cigars when they come to my house.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Judging Quotes , People Quotes

A man's house burns down. The smoking wreckage represents only a ruined home that was dear through years of use and pleasant associations. By and by, as the days and weeks go on, first he misses this, then that, then the other thing. And when he casts about for it he finds that it was in that house. Always it is an essential - here was but one of its kind. It cannot be replaced. It was in that house. It is irrevocably lost...It will be years before the tale of lost essentials is complete, and not till then can he truly know the magnitude of his disaster.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Love Quotes , Goodbye Quotes

Necessity is the mother of taking chances.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Inspirational Quotes , Mother Quotes

Nothing is made in vain, but the fly came near it.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Vain Quotes

I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Life Quotes , Opportunity Quotes

If there was two birds sitting on a fence, he would bet you which one would fly first.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Two Quotes , Bird Quotes

If we should deal out justice only, in this world, who would escape? No, it is better to be generous, and in the end more profitable, for it gains gratitude for us, and love.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Gratitude Quotes , Kindness Quotes

Let us be grateful to Adam: he cut us out of the blessing of idleness and won for us the curse of labor.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Work Quotes , Grateful Quotes

It has always been a peculiarity of the human race that it keeps two sets of morals in stock-the private and the real, and the public and the artificial.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Real Quotes , Race Quotes

The dreamer's valuation of a thing lost - not another man's - is the only standard to measure it by, and his grief for it makes it large and great and fine, and is worthy of our reverence in all cases.

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Grief Quotes , Sadness Quotes

A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a novel. I know this from experience. He has no clear idea of his story; in fact he has no story. He merely has some people in his mind, and an incident or two, also a locality, and he trusts he can plunge those people into those incidents with interesting results.

5 years ago

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Tags : Mark Twain Quotes , Writing Quotes , Men Quotes