Mark Twain is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers in US history and he is also well known for his rapier wit and brilliant quotes. This is a list of 20 dazzling quotes by Mark Twain.
1. Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.
2. An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven’t been done before.
3. Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
4. Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
5. Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
6. Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
7. Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.
8. Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.
9. I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it.
10. I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won’t.
11. I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
12. I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.
13. In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language.
14. It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.
15. It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
16. Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
17. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
18. Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.
19. Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
20. We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don’t know anything and can’t read.
译文:
引自马克•吐温的20则名言
毋庸置疑，马克·吐温是美国史上最伟大的作家之一。他也为其诙谐的才智和犀利的言辞而著名。以下列出的是出自马克吐温的20则妙趣横生的引语。
1. 经常承认你的过错，这将使有权有势之人放松警惕，你就有机会犯更多的错了。
2. 英国人墨守陈规，美国人开拓创新。
3. 阅读健康书籍须谨慎，切莫栽于那个印刷错误。
4. 衣着造人。赤身裸体者无用于社会。
5. 切莫整日叫嚣世界亏欠你一个活下去的机会，它的存在先于你，不欠你任何东西。
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6. 切莫扼杀幻想。幻想丢了，你或许还在，但已如行尸走肉。
7. 事实不会圆通，数据可有张巧嘴儿。
8. 对待金钱，诚实为上策。
9. 我未出席葬礼，但捎去了一封信，信上说，我同意。
10. 比起乔治·华盛顿，我有更高远宏大的原则标准。他不能说谎，但我能。可我不说。
11. 我的一生遭受过痛楚之事，其中的一些真真实实发生过。
12. 我强烈反对二英雄间的厮杀。倘若有人向我发起挑战，我会友好仁慈地牵着他的手，带到一静僻处，杀之。
13. 在巴黎，人们对我所说的法文毫不领会。对于让那群呆瓜理解他们自个儿的语言这个事儿，我从未取得过成功。
14. 事实与数据表明，在美国没有比国会更显赫的犯罪集团了。
15.与其开口充英雄，不如闭嘴装傻瓜。
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16. 让我们感谢呆瓜们。没有他们，我们谈何成功。
17. 今日之事今日做，莫等闲。
18. 诺亚一行人没有错过方舟是多么可惜啊！
19. 假设你是个呆瓜，是国会中的一员。我还是做我自己。
20. 我们有世界上最先进的刑事陪审制度；它的效率毁于每天要寻找12个文盲。