Quote

There is a great difference between feeding parties to wild beasts and stirring up their finer feelings in an inquisition. One is the system of degraded barbarians, the other of enlightened civilized people.

Mark Twain

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Mark Twain
Age: 74 †
Born: 1835
Born: November 30
Died: 1910
Died: April 21
Aphorist
Author
Autobiographer
Humorist
Journalist
Novelist
Opinion Journalist
Prosaist
Science Fiction Writer
Teacher
Florida
Missouri
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Samuel L. Clemens
Samuel Clemens
Feelings
Civilized
Inquisition
Great
Beast
Finer
People
Wild
Barbarians
Civilization
Beasts
Difference
Stirring
Differences
Feeding
System
Parties
Party
Enlightened
Degraded

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Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time.
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When a man arrives at great prosperity God did it: when he falls into disaster he did it himself.
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I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one.
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When an honest writer discovers an imposition it is his simple duty to strip it bare and hurl it down from its place of honor, no matter who suffers by it any other course would render him unworthy of the public confidence.
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I do not wish any reward but to know I have done the right thing.
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Humorists of the 'mere' sort cannot survive. Humor is only a fragrance, a decoration.
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When there was room on the ledge outside of the pots and boxes for a cat, the cat was there- in sunny weather- stretched at full length, asleep and blissful, with her furry belly to the sun and a paw curved over her nose.
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There is not a single celebrated Southern name in any of the departments of human industry except those of war, assassination, lynching, murder, the duel, repudiation, & massacre.
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There are things which some people never attempt during their whole lives, but one of these is not poetry. Poetry attacks all human beings sooner or later, and, like the measles, is mild or violent according to the age of the sufferer.
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I heard a Californian student in Heidelberg say, in one of his calmest moods, that he would rather decline two drinks than one German adjective.
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Demagogue--a vessel containing beer and other liquids.
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I have no race prejudices, and I think I have no color prejudices or caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. Indeed I know it. I can stand any society. All that I care to know is that a man is a human being-that is enough for me he can't be any worse.
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Only a government that is rich and safe can afford to be a democracy, for democracy is the most expensive and nefarious kind of government ever heard of on earth
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I was educated once - it took me years to get over it.
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Eating and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man's enjoyment of his cigar.
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If smoking cigars is not permitted in heaven, I won''t go.
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I do not like an injurious lie, except when it injures somebody else.
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There will never be a perfect time to quit smoking. A time when you don't have any distractions or stress... If you had started today one year ago, this would not even be an issue for you today! Don't waste another year!
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April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.
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If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.
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