Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
Interpretation
This quote humorously contrasts the resilience of cats with the fleeting nature of lies.
Mark Twain uses wit to illustrate that while cats are often said to have nine lives, lies are not as durable; they eventually come to light or face consequences. This clever analogy implies that deceit is inherently unstable and unsustainable, unlike the myth of a cat's multiple lives, which suggests an enduring presence despite challenges.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about the importance of honesty.
Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
The comic spirit is given to us in order that we may analyze, weigh, and clarify things in us which nettle us, or which we are outgrowing, or trying to reshape
To watch a football game is to be in a prolonged neurotic doubt as to what you're seeing. It's more like an emergency happening at a distance than a game. I don't wonder the spectators take to drink.
It seems like once people grow up, they have no idea what's cool.
Things have to be funny first, and if they want to have a point, that's awesome.
Like other parties of the kind, it was first silent, then talky, then argumentative, then disputatious, then unintelligible, then altogether, then inarticulate, and then drunk. When we had reached the last step of this glorious ladder, it was difficult to get down again without stumbling.
A Christian telling an atheist they're going to hell is as scary as a child telling an adult they're not getting any presents from Santa.
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