American writer Samuel Clemens, known by his pen name Mark Twain, was born on November 30, 1835. A beloved humorist, he’s best known for his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also attained great success and is often considered as “The Great American Novel”.
Prior to his writing career, he worked as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. He then pursued work in mining. He failed as a miner, prompting him to seek employment at a newspaper. Twain gained national attention as a writer after his story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was published in a literary newspaper in 1865.
His subsequent journey consisted of travels to Hawaii, then to the Mediterranean, Europe and Middle East. His experiences in foreign countries inspired his 1869 book The Innocents Abroad, a compiled collection of travel letters. He became an international celebrity to some extent because of the tours he attended to lecture about his travels.
His success continued with the publication of his classic novels from the 1870s to 1880s. He wrote The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Twain’s literary work reflected his wit and satire, earning him global success and admiration. Up to this day, he’s an iconic figure whose literature continues to inspire generations after generations.
Here are 30 witty Mark Twain quotes you can enjoy.
Classic Mark Twain Quotes
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. – Mark Twain
There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is crowded. – Mark Twain
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Mark Twain
To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence. – Mark Twain
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain
Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. – Mark Twain
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. – Mark Twain
Life is short, Break the Rules. Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that makes you smile. – Mark Twain
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. – Mark Twain
Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times. – Mark Twain
If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. – Mark Twain
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. – Mark Twain
The lack of money is the root of all evil. – Mark Twain
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. – Mark Twain
Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. – Mark Twain
Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it. – Mark Twain
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing you can do is keep your mind young. – Mark Twain
The most interesting information come from children, for they tell all they know and then stop. – Mark Twain
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – Mark Twain
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. – Mark Twain
Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option. – Mark Twain
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. – Mark Twain
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. – Mark Twain
The common eye sees only the outside of things, and judges by that, but the seeing eye pierces through and reads the heart and the soul, finding there capacities which the outside didn’t indicate or promise, and which the other kind couldn’t detect. – Mark Twain
Spiritual wants and instincts are as various in the human family as are physical appetites, complexions, and features, and a man is only at his best, morally, when he is equipped with the religious garment whose color and shape and size most nicely accommodate themselves to the spiritual complexion, angularities, and stature of the individual who wears it. – Mark Twain
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. – Mark Twain
Part of the success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. – Mark Twain
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. – Mark Twain
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. – Mark Twain
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident. – Mark Twain
Share these 30 Mark Twain quotes with others for enjoyment and inspiration.
