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Start by following Mark Twain.
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“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”
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“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
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“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
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“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
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“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”
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“′Classic′ - a book which people praise and don't read.”
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“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
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“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
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“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
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“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”
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“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
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“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”
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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 should be.”
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“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
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“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
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“I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”
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“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”
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“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.”
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“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
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“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
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“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”
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“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
― The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations
― The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
― Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
― Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
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“Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”
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“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.”
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“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir...mighty scarce.”
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“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”
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“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
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“Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”
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