Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is best known for writing great works like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. This literary genius, as some would name him, is responsible for some of the greatest books of our time. Here are a few Mark Twain quotes to inspire you to be amazing.
Top 10 Inspiring Mark Twain Quotes
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
– Mark Twain
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The world doesn’t owe you a thing. If anything, we owe the world our very lives. I don’t think any of us would get very far floating in the void of space, after all. Don’t expect anything to be handed to you on a silver platter, or even a paper napkin. If you want something, go after it. It won’t come to you any other way.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Mark Twain
You won’t get anywhere if you can’t get out of bed. There is no great secret to getting ahead in life, beyond getting started. Once you get started, it’s much easier to get ahead in life. Don’t expect it to be easy, but it’s a lot easier than just sitting still and stagnating, which is what will happen if you don’t get started in the first place.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
– Mark Twain
Death is not something that anyone can avoid, no matter how hard we try. If we live every day in fear of death, then we’re not really living. Instead, we’re hiding while the Doom of Damocles hangs over our head, a fate that we can never escape. Don’t waste your life hiding. You will die, one day. Face it, accept it, and go out and live your life in spite of it.
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
– Mark Twain
They say that you’re only as old as you feel and with the stressors of modern life, it is far too easy to feel much older than you actually are. Don’t worry so much about your age, and it won’t become a worry for you. Pay attention to your health, celebrate your birthdays but don’t count the candles on your cake. Instead, just enjoy it!
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
– Mark Twain
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It costs so little to be kind and so very much to be cruel. A touch of kindness is something that anyone can recognize, whether they’re blind, deaf, or simply numb to the world. A little bit of kindness goes a long way in this world, when so many choose to be cruel or are cruel out of ignorance.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
– Mark Twain
Imagination is essential to a functional life. How sad a world would be without a touch of wildness and fantasy. Instead of focusing on your realities, take the time to nurture and cultivate your imagination. Once you’ve done that, you can see the world through different eyes and it will open you up to possibilities that you’d never dreamed of.
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
– Mark Twain
There is nothing easier and nothing harder than telling the truth. The main benefit of telling the truth is that you don’t have to remember what lies that you’ve told to each person. Instead, just tell your truths and hold to them with all your might. Truth is essential, after all. Lies eat away at you, and you have to spend all of your time trying to keep track of them. Just tell the truth and while everything may not be perfect, it will be easier for you to be at peace.
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
– Mark Twain
We all have things to do that aren’t pleasant. If you have to eat your frogs, so to speak, do it quickly and do it early. That way, if the worst thing that happens to you during the day is that you have eaten a frog, then you will have a fantastic rest of your day. Get the unpleasant things over with quickly and you will have more time to partake of the things you enjoy.
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that he can learn no other way.”
– Mark Twain
There are some things that can only be taught by experience. If you pick up a cat by the tail, you will get scratched and then you will learn not to pick up the cat by its tail again. No matter how often you tell someone something, they will have to find out for themselves. It’s like telling a small child that the stove is hot, only to have them burn themselves anyway. They don’t believe it until they find out for themselves.
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
– Mark Twain
There is nothing better than the company of good friends and the even grander company of your favorite tales. Add to that the peace of a sleepy conscience, and you’re well on your way to creating a perfectly peaceful life. While it can’t always remain that way, those little niches of peace are something to be treasured.
If you take nothing else away from these quotes, remember this one thing: don’t take life too seriously. None of us are going to make it out alive. Instead, take joy in all the little things that make you happy and leave the big things for another day.
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