On Finding a True Wealth of Knowledge

“I would rather have my ignorance than another man’s knowledge, because I have got so much more of it.”
-Mark Twain

All we can be sure of is our own ignorance – knowing that we don’t know. An abundance of known ignorance is better than a paucity of knowledge.

On Being Truly Virtuous

“The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire.”
-Mark Twain

It’s one thing to act virtuously and not know any better, quite another to remain so when aware of the options.

On the Illusion of Original Thought

“We are nothing but echoes. We have no thoughts of our own, no opinions of our own, we are but a compost heap made up of the decayed heredities, moral and physical.”
-Mark Twain

We may believe that we’ve whistled a new tune or scratched out a new phrase more beautiful or clever than anyone thought to do before. We are but fooling ourselves and have only to thank all who have gone before us, throughout the long eons of time, for such foolishness.