Mark Twain Inspirational Quotations [Page 2]

If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill always came together, who would escape hanging? Framed in a more positive light, this tells us also that if we wish to accomplish a particular thing then we need to increase our level of desire for that thing and to create or seek out the opportunities and right environment for it to happen without fail.

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. It is said that leaders are readers. However if they read trashy magazines for the majority of their time and they never run with the information that they glean from resourceful books, then they may as well have not taken any time to read at all. It is easier to stay out than get out.

I have spent most of my time worrying about things that have never happened. Worrying is not an action! In fact, it is action that alleviates concern and dissipates worries. Take more actions when you feel that worry is creeping in to steal your time. It need not be a huge action, any action in the direction you want to go will do.

When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. See what happens when you "know it all", at any stage of life? Farther down the track you may see clearly how certain personal opinions, held onto too tightly, could be fogging up the view, and providing incorrect insight. Prosperity is the best protector of principle.

He had an uncommon fondness for cats. As an old man summering in New Hampshire, Twain even rented kittens from a nearby farm to keep him company until he returned home. "If man could be crossed with the cat," said Twain, "it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." There's always something about your success that displeases even your best friends.

Man can seldom - very, very, seldom - fight a winning fight against his training; the odds are too heavy.

What are the proper proportions of a maxim? A minimum of sound to a maximum of sense.

One thing at a time, is my motto - and just play that thing for all it is worth, even if it's only tto pair and a jack.

Always do what's right. That will gratify some and surprise the rest.

If everyone was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.

Never be haughty to the humble, never be humble to the haughty.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

All say, ‘how hard it is that we have to die’ -- a strange complaint to come from the mouths of those who have had to live.

There is no such thing as an ordinary life.