--- title: "5 Down and Quotes By Mark Twain" description: "5 Down and quotes by Mark Twain. Plus more from Mark Twain and more Down and sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg" --- > [Missionarying was a better thing in those days than it is in ours. All you had to do was to cure the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-those-days-than-it-is-in-ours-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg) > [My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-me-that-a-gifted-person-ought/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/mark-twain-22_awful_my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-m_595116.png) > [Sum all the gifts that man is endowed with, and we give our greatest share of admiration to his energy. And today,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-with-and-we-give-our-greatest/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/589/mark-twain-22_admiration_sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-wi_739482.png) > [The existing phrasebooks are inadequate. They are well enough as far as they go, but when you fall down and skin your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate-they-are-well-enough-as-far/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/mark-twain-22_down-and_the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate_900817.png) > [When I want to read something nice, I sit down and write it myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit-down-and-write-it-myself/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/345/mark-twain-22_books_when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit_2901540.png) ## Other authors on Down and ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/#itemlist", "name": "5 Down and Quotes By Mark Twain", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Missionarying was a better thing in those days than it is in ours. All you had to do was to cure the head savage´s sick daughter by a miracle- a miracle like the miracle of Lourdes in our day, for instance- and immediately that head savage was your convert, and filled to the eyes with a new convert´s enthusiasm. You could sit down and make yourself easy now. He would take the ax and convert the rest of the nation himself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-those-days-than-it-is-in-ours-all/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Missionarying was a better thing in those days than it is in ours. All you had to do was to cure the head…” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-me-that-a-gifted-person-ought/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/mark-twain-22_awful_my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-m_595116.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/mark-twain-22_awful_my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-m_595116.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/mark-twain-22_awful_my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-m_595116.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and…” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sum all the gifts that man is endowed with, and we give our greatest share of admiration to his energy. And today, if I were a heathen, I would rear a statue to Energy and fall down and worship it!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-with-and-we-give-our-greatest/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/589/mark-twain-22_admiration_sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-wi_739482.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/589/mark-twain-22_admiration_sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-wi_739482.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/589/mark-twain-22_admiration_sum-all-the-gifts-that-man-is-endowed-wi_739482.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sum all the gifts that man is endowed with, and we give our greatest share of admiration to his energy. And…” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The existing phrasebooks are inadequate. They are well enough as far as they go, but when you fall down and skin your leg they don't tell you what to say.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate-they-are-well-enough-as-far/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/mark-twain-22_down-and_the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate_900817.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/mark-twain-22_down-and_the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate_900817.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/mark-twain-22_down-and_the-existing-phrasebooks-are-inadequate_900817.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The existing phrasebooks are inadequate. They are well enough as far as they go, but when you fall down and…” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I want to read something nice, I sit down and write it myself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit-down-and-write-it-myself/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/345/mark-twain-22_books_when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit_2901540.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/345/mark-twain-22_books_when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit_2901540.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/345/mark-twain-22_books_when-i-want-to-read-something-nice-i-sit_2901540.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I want to read something nice, I sit down and write it myself.” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/", "name": "Down and Quotes by Mark Twain", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/mark-twain-22_children_missionarying-was-a-better-thing-in-thos_275146.jpg" }, "description": "5 Down and quotes by Mark Twain. Plus more from Mark Twain and more Down and sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Down And", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/mark-twain/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```