Mark Twain Quotes about Wisdom

Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and Satan, the first consultant.

Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and Satan, the first consultant.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Garden, Eden

Mark Twain (2016). “The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain”, p.76, Chartwell

When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.

Mark Twain

Love, Marriage, Wisdom

Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.126, Courier Corporation

Distance lends enchantment to the view.

Mark Twain

Wise, Wisdom, Distance

Mark Twain (2013). “Autobiography of Mark Twain”, p.59, Univ of California Press

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Country, Freedom

Following the Equator ch. 20, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" (1897)

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Men, Names

Every man is a moon; he has a side no one sees.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Men, Moon

It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.

Mark Twain

Education, Wisdom, Horse

Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) ch. 19

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again and that is well but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.

Mark Twain

Inspirational, Wisdom, Philosophical

Following the Equator ch. 11, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" (1897)

The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the life too closely examined may not be lived at all.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, May, Unexamined Life

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up.

Mark Twain

Inspirational, Funny, Wisdom

The Innocents Abroad (1869) ch. 7

What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Book, Beer

Notebook, 2 July 1867

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.

Mark Twain

Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

If true, rarely beautiful. If beautiful, rarely true.

Mark Twain

Beautiful, Wisdom, True Wisdom

A man never reaches that dizzy height of wisdom when he can no longer be led by the nose.

Mark Twain

Wisdom, Inspiration, Men

Mark Twain (2014). “Mark Twain on Common Sense: Timeless Advice and Words of Wisdom from America's Most-Revered Humorist”, p.10, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

The perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambitions to our capacities, we will then be a happy and a virtuous people.

Mark Twain

Happiness, Wisdom, Philosophy

Mark Twain (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)”, p.2992, Delphi Classics