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Writing Quotes by Mark Twain

85 Writing quotes by Mark Twain

All Writing quotes Mark Twain’s page

If you ever wondered how a 19th‑century humorist would phrase the act of putting pen to paper, this set of 85 quotes delivers his sharp observations and playful advice. Twain’s voice cuts through the noise, reminding us that writing is both a trade and a source of endless amusement.

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That cat will write her autograph all over your leg if you let her.

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The public is the only critic whose judgment is worth anything at all.

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“RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR--[Written about 1870.]”

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You need not expect to get your book right the first time.

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It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense

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Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.

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Damn the subjunctive. It brings all our writers to shame.

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“If the writer doesn't sweat, the reader will.”

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If we learned to walk and talk the way we learn to read and write, everyone would limp and stutter.

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

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“I don't have time to write you a short letter, so I'm writing you a long one instead.”

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If I'd seen a playwright ever write an' play at the same time, I'd have given 'em more of a chance at…

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If ever you've been down in the dumps, hear these iconic authors share with you more than their writing wisdom.

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When you catch an adjective, kill it - perhaps the best possible advice for budding writers.

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Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it…

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“Use what you stand for and what you oppose as a foundation to write great content that resonates with readers and creates…

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To write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers pay within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance…

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The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to…

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I have thought many times since that if poets when they get discouraged would blow their brains out, they could write very…

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I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I…

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Write without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign…

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I don't speak German well but several experts have assured me that I write it like an angel. Maybe so, maybe so-…

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“I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides,…

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There ain't nothing more to write about and I'm rotten glad of it, because if I'd know'd what trouble it was to…

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An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I've dug all the large words out of…

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A distinguished man should be as particular about his last words as he is about his last breath. He should write them…

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You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only…

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Written things are not for speech; their form is literary; they are stiff, inflexible, and will not lend themselves to happy and…

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I am trying to get the hang of this new fangled writing machine, but I am not making a shining success of…

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A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a…

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there was no crime in unconscious plagiarism; that I committed it everyday, that he committed it everyday, that every man alive on…

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The editor of a newspaper cannot be independent, but must work with one hand tied behind him by party and patrons, and…

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“A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a…

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It is no use to keep private information which you can't show off.

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As to the adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.

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The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice

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We write frankly and freely, but then we modify before we print.

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Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.

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If I had more time, I would have written less.

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When you catch an adjective, kill it.

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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.

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If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…

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“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…

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It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.

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“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”

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A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…

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There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.

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I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…

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The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…

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“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…

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Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.

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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…

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If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…

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You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…

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Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.

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