115 Memorable Mark Twain Quotes to Inspire Your Success and Happiness 2023

Discover the wit, wisdom, and insight of Mark Twain through his most famous quotes. Explore Twain’s observations on life, death, truth, and more in this blog, and find inspiration and entertainment in the words of one of America’s most celebrated authors and humorists.

In this blog, we will take a closer look at some of the most memorable and thought-provoking Mark Twain quotes, exploring their meaning and relevance to our lives today.

About Mark Twain

Mark Twain, the celebrated American author, humorist, and lecturer, was a master of wit, humor, and satire. Known for his keen observations on life, human nature, and society, Twain left us with a wealth of quotes that continue to inspire and entertain us today. From his pithy one-liners to his philosophical musings, Twain’s quotes are timeless and continue to be celebrated as some of the best ever written. Whether you are a fan of Twain’s writing or simply looking for some inspiration or humor, his quotes are sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a renewed appreciation for the human experience.

Top 10 Mark Twain Quotes

1. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

2. “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

3. “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”

4. “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

5. “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”

6. “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

7. “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”

8. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

9. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

These quotes showcase Mark Twain’s clever wit, keen observations, and timeless wisdom. They can inspire and motivate us to live a better life and think more deeply about the world around us.

Mark Twain Quotes about Travel

10. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”

11. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

12. “Innocents Abroad is full of wit, satire, and good-natured humor. It is a great book for anyone who loves to travel or just loves to laugh.”

13.”To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”

14. “The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad.”

15. “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.”

16. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

17. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

18. “I have seen more of America than any other person. I have traveled more than any one else, and I have seen more of the country than anyone else, and I have found out that it is true, the most beautiful country is the United States.”

19. “Travel is like an endless university. You never stop learning.”

20. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”

21. “There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land and work again after a cheerful, careless voyage.”

22. “Travel has no longer any charm for me. I have seen all the foreign countries I want to except heaven & hell & I have only a vague curiosity about one of those.”

23. “All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.”

24. “I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.”

25. “People travel for the same reason as they collect works of art: because the best people do it. It’s not a matter of money, but of taste.”

26. “We are all pilgrims on the same journey-but some pilgrims have better road maps.”

27. “Nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people.”

28. “I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand… Adventure is a state of mind-and spirit.”

Funny Mark Twain Quotes

29. “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

30. “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

31. “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

32. “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”

33. “I can resist anything except temptation.”

34. “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

35. “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

36. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

37. “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.”

38. “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”

39. “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”

40. “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

41. “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”

42. “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

43. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

44. “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.”

45. “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

46. “The trouble with the world is not that people know too little; it’s that they know so many things that just aren’t so.”

Mark Twain Quotes about Fools

47. “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.”

48. “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

49. “It’s not what we don’t know that gets us into trouble, it’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.”

50. “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

51. “In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”

52. “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.”

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

54. “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”

55. “The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.”

56. “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

57. “The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.”

58. “Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”

59. “The holy passion of friendship is so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.”

60. “A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.”

61. “There is nothing so annoying as to have two people talking when you’re busy interrupting.”

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

63. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

64. “Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.”

65. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Mark Twain Quotes about Politics

66. “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.”

67. “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”

68. “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.”

69. “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”

70. “There is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.”

71. “I am not an American, I am the American.”

72. “The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them.”

73. “Familiarity breeds contempt, and children.”

74. “All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.”

75. “In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue, but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”

76. “It’s not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It’s the hand that casts the ballot.”

77. “The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.”

Mark Twain Quotes about Life

78. “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

79. “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

80. “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”

81. “The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.”

82. “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”

83. “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”

84. “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”

85. “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

86.”The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.”

Mark Twain quotes about Death

87. “The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.”

88. “The fear of death is simply the fear of the unknown.”

89. “Death is the starlit strip between the companionship of yesterday and the reunion of tomorrow.”

90. “Death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, the physician of him whom medicine cannot cure, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console.”

91. “The dead always have a way of becoming the living.”

92. “Death is the end of life; ah, why should life all labor be?”

93. “Death, the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuge are for all.”

94. “The fear of death is the beginning of slavery.”

95. “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

96. “Death is a great leveler, the ultimate teacher. It tells you what is important and what is not.”

97. “It is better to die young than to grow old with a bitter heart and a jaded soul.”

98. “The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.”

99. “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

100. “The fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully.”

101. “The fear of death is the most ridiculous fear, because there is no risk of accident for someone who is dead.”

102. “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

103. Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not.”

104. “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet.”

Mark Twain Quotes about Truth

105. “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

106. “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

107. “Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”

108. “The truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”

109. “A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.”

110. “A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”

111. “It is easier to stay out than get out.”

112. “A fact can be turned into a truth by a man who believes in it.”

113. “It is better to be alone than in bad company.”

114. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

115. “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Conclusion:

Mark Twain was a prolific writer, humorist, and philosopher who left us with a rich legacy of memorable quotes that continue to inspire and entertain us today. His wit, wisdom, and insight into the human condition are timeless and continue to resonate with readers across the globe. From his quips about life, death, truth, and everything in between, Twain’s words continue to provide us with a unique perspective on the world and remind us of the importance of living life to the fullest. Whether you are looking for a dose of humor, inspiration, or just a good chuckle, Twain’s quotes are sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a renewed appreciation for the human experience.

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