Quotes to inspire and reflect

There have been innumerable Temporary Seekers after the Truth-have you ever heard of a permanent one?

When the time comes that a man has had his dinner, then the true man comes to the surface

Experience is an author's most valuable asset; experience is the thing that puts the muscle and the breath and the warm blood into the book he writes .

It is easy to find fault, if one has that disposition. There was once a man who, not being able to find any other fault with his coal, complained that there were too many prehistoric toads in it.

A photograph is a most important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever.

It is often the case that a man who can't tell a lie thinks he is the best judge of one.

There are people who think that honesty is always the best policy. This is a superstition. There are times when the appearance of it is worth six of it.

If you can't get a compliment any other way, pay yourself one.

Independence-is loyalty to one's best self and principles, and this is often disloyalty to the general idols and fetishes.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

The frankest and freest and privatest product of the human mind and heart is a love letter.

The future interests me - I'm going to spend the rest of my life there.

It has always been a peculiarity of the human race that it keeps two sets of morals in stock-the private and the real, and the public and the artificial.

I have been on the verge of being an angel all my life, but it's never happened yet.

The way it is now, the asylums can hold the sane people, but if we tried to shut up the insane we should run out of building materials.

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.

A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.

To do right is wonderful. To teach others to do right is even more wonderful--and much easier.

The world doesn't owe you anything. It was here first .

Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be?--it is the same the angels breathe.

Geological time is not money.

In literature imitations do not imitate.

It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

You can't throw too much style into a miracle.

The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise.

Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak .

When a humorist ventures upon the grave concerns of life he must do his job better than another man or he works harm to his cause.

Life is short, break the rules.

Eight grown Americans out of ten dread the coming of the Fourth, with its pandemonium and its perils, and they rejoice when it is gone-if still alive.

Armor is heavy, yet it is a proud burden, and a man standeth straight in it.

All my life I have been honest-comparatively honest. I could never use money I had not made honestly-I could only lend it.

Recipe for a long life: Only smoke while awake. Only run when being chased.

The difference between a Miracle and a Fact is exactly the difference between a mermaid and a seal.

There is a sumptuous variety about the New England weather... In the spring I have counted one hundred and twenty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.

Therein lies the defect of revenge: it's all in the anticipation; the thing itself is a pain, not a pleasure; at least the pain is the biggest end of it.

A reputable lawyer will advise you to keep out of the law, make the best of a foolish bargain, and not get caught again.

Kindness is a language herd by deaf men and felt by blind men.

Tea is an affront to lunch and an insult to dinner .

Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin.

Teaching is like trying to hold 35 corks underwater at once.

I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot be any benefit when you are tired; and I was always tired.

Look at you in war...There has never been a just one, never an honorable one, on the part of the instigator of the war.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

You take the lies out of him, and he'll shrink to the size of your hat; you take the malice out of him, and he'll disappear .

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet in his private heart no man much respects himself.

The blunting effects of slavery upon the slaveholder's moral perceptions are known and conceded the world over; and a privileged class, an aristocracy, is but a band of slaveholders under another name.

The law of work seems unfair, but nothing can change it; the more enjoyment you get out of your work, the more money you will make .