The humorous writer professes to awaken and direct your love, your pity, your kindness--your scorn for untruth, pretension, imposture....He takes upon himself… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides,… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I don't speak German well but several experts have assured me that I write it like an angel. Maybe so, maybe so-… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
Well, my book is written-let it go. But if it were only to write over again there wouldn't be so many things… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“Use what you stand for and what you oppose as a foundation to write great content that resonates with readers and creates… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
If ever you've been down in the dumps, hear these iconic authors share with you more than their writing wisdom. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
A distinguished man should be as particular about his last words as he is about his last breath. He should write them… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“T[he rules of writing] require that the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
What a lumbering poor vehicle prose is for the conveying of a great thought! ... Prose wanders around with a lantern &… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“T[he rules of writing] require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
Let us guess that whenever we read a sentence & like it, we unconsciously store it away in our model-chamber; & it… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“My works are like water. The works of the great masters are like wine. But everyone drinks water. - From Mark Twain's… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
What are the proper proportions of a maxim? A minimum of sound to a maximum of sense. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
In Austria an editor who can write well is valuable, but he is not likely to remain so unless he can handle… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
An author values a compliment even when it comes from a source of doubtful competency. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I've dug all the large words out of… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
The editor of a newspaper cannot be independent, but must work with one hand tied behind him by party and patrons, and… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
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… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“I don't have time to write you a short letter, so I'm writing you a long one instead.” — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
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. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already. — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
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… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
![“T[he rules of writing] require that the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7e1/mark-twain-22_plot_t-he-rules-of-writing-require-that-the-e_2085504.jpg)
![“T[he rules of writing] require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be6/mark-twain-22_books_t-he-rules-of-writing-require-that-the-p_2169332.jpg)
![“RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR--[Written about 1870.]” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f25/mark-twain-22_writing_running-for-governor-written-about-1870_2594553.jpg)
