Home Inspiration 50 Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain That Will Make You Smile

50 Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain That Will Make You Smile

by Vidya Sury August 28, 2017 12 comments
50 Inspiring quotes by Mark Twain

Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer, is better known to us as Mark Twain. He has a colorful life story and an inspiring one, yet again proving that excellence is not the exclusive domain of a select few.

To say I am a big fan of Mark Twainโ€™s words would be an understatement.ย  I love his witty sarcasm. My first introduction to his work was the classic โ€œThe adventures of Tom Sawyerโ€ โ€“one of my all-time favorite booksโ€”and I absolutely love it. Who wouldnโ€™t? This is one book I think every adult and child should read!

I have wonderful childhood memories reading the book with my uncle, who introduced me to some of the best books Iโ€™ve read. He enjoyed quoting from the classics, imprinting them in my memory.

Did you know that Mark Twainโ€™s birth and death coincided with the appearance of Halleyโ€™s Comet?

I came in with Halleyโ€™s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I donโ€™t go out with Halleyโ€™s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: โ€œNow here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.โ€
โ€“ย Mark Twain, a Biography

Today, Iโ€™d like to share some of my favorite Mark Twain quotes โ€“ inspiring, wise, and often with a healthy dash of humor, but always with a strong underlying message.

I looked for a featured image in keeping with my craze for watercolor images, but didnโ€™t really find any. So I made my own. I hope you like my sketch!

Enjoy the quotes! And Iโ€™d love to know which one(s) you liked the most!

50 inspiring quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile

50 Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain That Will Make You Smile

Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile

  1. Our conscience takes no notice of pain inflicted on others until it reaches a point where it gives pain to us. In all cases without exception we are absolutely indifferent to another personโ€™s pain until his sufferings make us uncomfortable.
  2. If you tell the truth, you donโ€™t have to remember anything.
  3. Donโ€™t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
  4. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didnโ€™t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover
  5. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can seeInspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  6. Conscience, manโ€™s moral medicine chest.
  7. Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you donโ€™t mind, it doesnโ€™t matter
  8. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect
  9. Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words
  10. A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoesInspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  11. A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
  12. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear โ€“ not absence of fear.
  13. Donโ€™t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
  14. Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
  15. All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  16. We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
  17. I can teach anybody how to get, what they want out of life. The problem is that I canโ€™t find anybody who can tell me what they want.
  18. We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it โ€“ and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit on a hot stove lid again โ€“ and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.
  19. Iโ€™ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
  20. An uneasy conscience is a hair in the mouth.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  21. 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.
  22. Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.
  23. Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.
  24. Itโ€™s not the size of the dog in the fight, itโ€™s the size of the fight in the dog.
  25. The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  26. The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.
  27. Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it
  28. The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
  29. When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.
  30. To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
  31. Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  32. Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
  33. Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.
  34. The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
  35. Itโ€™s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt
  36. Worrying is like paying a debt you donโ€™t owe.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  37. When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.
  38. Write what you know.
  39. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.
  40. Good judgement is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgement.
  41. Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a childโ€™s loss of a doll and a kingโ€™s loss of a crown are events of the same sizeInspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  42. They did not know it was impossible so they did it
  43. There is no such thing as an ordinary life.
  44. Thunder is impressive, but it is lightning that does the work.
  45. Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.
  46. It is a good idea to obey all the rules when youโ€™re young just so youโ€™ll have the strength to break them when youโ€™re old.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile
  47. Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through oneโ€™s head.
  48. If you have nothing to say, say nothing.
  49. There is nothing so annoying as a good example
  50. How common it is to pass an old street corner beggar, then slacken your pace for two blocks, stop, turn, go back & settle with your conscience.Inspiring Quotes by Mark Twain that will make you smile

Which inspiring quote by Mark Twain did you like the most?

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12 comments

Shilpa Gupte August 29, 2017 at 12:37 pm

I loved each and every quote of this great man, Vidya! And, I have chosen one which I am planning on using in one of my forthcoming posts! ๐Ÿ™‚
Each quote speaks volumes on how you ought to live your life, isn’t it?
And, yes, I am SO glad you got down to sketching the portrait of the man instead of picking one from the net. I see so much character in this sketch you have made. As well as a maturity that I don’t find in my sketches!
And, now that you have started sketching, please don’t stop. Maybe, you could share them here, on your blog, under a new category…what say you?
<3

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Vidya Sury August 29, 2017 at 12:55 pm

Thank you Shilpa! Coming from you, I treasure the compliment! I am contemplating a Saturday Sketch habit to motivate me. What do you think? Would you join me?

I eagerly look forward to seeing which quote you have chosen! Hugs! Thank you so much for your loving comment!
Vidya Sury recently posted…One Happiness Trick That Will Change Your Life

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Shilpa Garg August 29, 2017 at 10:32 pm

You made that sketch, just because you couldnt find a watercolour image!! Wow!! Vidya, You are truly amazing! Love the sketch and love you too!!
Have read quite a few of Mark Twain’s quotes and all of them are so simple, witty and profound. Thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

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Vishal Bheeroo August 30, 2017 at 4:28 pm

Great quotes and reflection on Mark Twain Vidya. Tom Sawyer is one of my favorites and I still have it. I love all quotes and this one will sure push me, ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didnโ€™t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover’ I will save the quotes on my laptop. Thank you for this amazing post.

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Birgit August 30, 2017 at 6:04 pm

I love Mark Twain because he was such a great watcher of human beings and our follies. My hubby goes with the swear part a lot…hahahaaaa. I love all of them but 8, 12, 25, 26 and the one about loneliness. All of these are so true and I wish more would know about these quotes

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Ramya Abhinand September 1, 2017 at 10:53 am

You actually made that sketch???? Thats awesome.. I havent read much of mark twain, except for a few lines here and there as part of my curriculum in my growing up years.. Hmmm teh secret of getting ahead is getting ahead.. Found this to be profound indeed

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Soumya September 1, 2017 at 5:20 pm

You know, anything you do makes me smile. The widest ๐Ÿ™‚

All 50 of them are so beautiful and so true. But my favorite – When angry, count four. When very angry, swear. ๐Ÿ˜€

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Elle Sommer September 2, 2017 at 1:02 am

Wow…beautiful sketch Vidya…another impressive side to you dear heart. I love Mark Twain too… I wish I had his way with words, so witty, so clear and to the point. Honestly it’s just too hard to pick a favourite… I know it’s the easy way out, but I love them all! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Sandra Pawula September 5, 2017 at 4:10 am

I loved the story of coming in and going out with Haley’s comet! I like this quote: “Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through oneโ€™s head.” But I think there’s something we can do about that too!

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Soulful quotations April 17, 2019 at 10:46 am

Yes , very well said , They did not know it was impossible so they did it .

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Janice December 18, 2019 at 7:30 pm

I love Mark Twain, too. Hard to pick a favorite, but nos. 25, 27 and 30 great life lessons to live by.

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Meltblogs December 12, 2020 at 12:49 pm

The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.
This is 1 of my most favorite. Loved reading rest of the quotes too.
Meltblogs recently posted…Truth Of Life ( Wisdom Thoughts)

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