--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know…" description: "\"I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing is wanted—otherwise I am a natural procrastinaturalist.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png" --- # I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing… ![“I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing is wanted—otherwise I am a natural procrastinaturalist.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png) > “I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing is wanted—otherwise I am a natural procrastinaturalist.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He compares his promptness to a clock, but only when he knows what is wanted; otherwise he procrastinates. **In simple terms:** Prompt only when purpose is clear. Key Takeaway Clarify goals to act promptly. Themes time management motivation procrastination Mood reflective determined Type advice motivational When to use this quote - project planning - daily tasks - goal setting Key Concepts purpose clarity self‑discipline Questions to Reflect On - What tasks lack a clear purpose for you? - How can you define purpose quickly? A Different Perspective Without clear purpose, even the best intentions stall. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Clock Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock-know-3503386/) [Day Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-thing-1310426/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-day/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural Procrastinaturalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-procrastinaturalist-3737460/) [Prompt Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prompt-clock-3737461/) [Prompts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prompts/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) ## Related quotes > [You look at a clock and it tells you it's eight o'clock, you know the number of hours that has been before eight; you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/you-look-at-a-clock-and-it-tells-you-it-s-eight-o-clock-you-know-the/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [A powerful agent is the right word. 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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. 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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/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Clock quotes > [Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/even-einstein-had-to-rely-for-his-time-on-his-clock/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [“Time was never neutral and often felt dangerous. We either think we have all the time in the world or time moves too fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-reay/time-was-never-neutral-and-often-felt-dangerous-we-either-think-we/) [Katherine Reay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-reay/) > [Before a clock was in the tower, Or e'er a watch was worn; I knew of night the passing hour, And prophesied the morn;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-a-clock-was-in-the-tower-or-e-er-a-watch-was-worn-i-knew-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [“Time is, to put it in its most impressive and some might say poncy-sounding form, my domain. I can see things that once happened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-rayner/time-is-to-put-it-in-its-most-impressive-and-some-might-say-poncy/) [Jacqueline Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-rayner/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [Time.The greatest creator, and the worst destroyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levi-keely/time-the-greatest-creator-and-the-worst-destroyer/) [Levi Keely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levi-keely/) > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Those who stop marketing to save money are like those who stop a clock to save time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/those-who-stop-marketing-to-save-money-are-like-those-who-stop-a/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [I don't know if it's just me or everyone, but the whole vibe with skiing is not so much thriving on competition against others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/picabo-street/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-just-me-or-everyone-but-the-whole-vibe-with/) [Picabo Street](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/picabo-street/) > [Time goes on, even when yer not looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/time-goes-on-even-when-yer-not-looking/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/clock-n-a-machine-of-great-moral-value-to-man-allaying-his-concern/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) [Browse all 2,738 Clock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing is wanted—otherwise I am a natural procrastinaturalist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know-the-day-a-thing-is-wanted/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clock" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know-the-day-a-thing-is-wanted/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c0/mark-twain-22_clock_i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know_2843012.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am as prompt as a clock, if I only know the day a thing is wanted—otherwise I am a natural…” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am as prompt as a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know-the-day-a-thing-is-wanted/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-as-prompt-as-a-clock-if-i-only-know-the-day-a-thing-is-wanted/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```