These ten quotes from Mark Twain (c. 1835-1910) come from his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (originally published 1876), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (published in 1884), and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (published in 1889).
- “Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.”
- From the preface of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- “In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.”
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Chapter II)
- “To promise not to do a thing is the surest way to make a body want to go and do that very thing.”
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Chapter 22)
- “Homely truth is unpalatable.”
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Chapter 21)
- “As soon as one is at rest, in this world, off he goes on something else to worry about.”
- A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (chapter 5)
- “A statesman gains little by the arbitrary exercise of ironclad authority upon all occasions that offer, for this wounds the just pride of his subordinates, and thus tends to undermine his strength. A little concession, now and then, where it can do no harm, is the wiser policy.”
- A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (chapter 17)
- “I have noticed my conscience for many years, and I know it is more trouble and bother to me than anything else I started with.”
- A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (chapter 18)
- “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
- A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (chapter 22)
- “[T]o the unconsciously indelicate all things are delicate.”
- A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (chapter 4)
- “By and by it got sort of lonesome, and so I went and set on the bank and listened to the current and listened to the current swishing along, and counted the stars and drift-logs and rafts that come down, and then went to bed; there ain’t no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can’t stay so, you soon get over it.”
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (chapter 8)
Specific books cited:
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Tain (originally published 1876). Reprinted by Bantam Dell / Random House, 1966, 1981, 2004.
- Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (published in 1884). The edition used here is by Bantam/Random House (1965, 1981, 2003).
- Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court (Published in 1889). The edition used here is by Bantam/Random House (1981, 2005).
All of the Mark Twain images and stock footage used in the video were public domain, open access, or free use at the time of the making of this film. The beautiful music playing in the video is Today Remains Sweet by Lish Grooves.
