On Pride’s Downfall

“Human pride is not worth while; there is always something lying in wait to take the wind out of it”
-Mark Twain, Following the Equator

Pride is a tricky thing. It can be a fine thing, too, like pride for work, family, community, and the accomplishments of others. 

But pride only for the sake of itself, without humility, is sure to be humiliated. Best to carry the humility with you from the start.

On Timing

“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one”
-Mark Twain

The difference between a million dollar idea and the worthless boasts of a crank is like the difference between a great joke and a terrible one -timing.

On the Value of Education

“Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.”
-Mark Twain

The better the education, the more you know what you don’t know – unless you’re too stupid. Then you know everything.

On Finally Being at Rest

“Death, the refuge, the solace, the best and kindliest and most prized friend and benefactor of the erring, the forsaken, the old, and weary, and broken of heart, whose burdens be heavy upon them, and who would lie down and be at rest.” 
-Mark Twain

Lying down in peace, knowing that the burdens of this life have been fulfilled, the wrongs committed released, the injuries suffered healed. To finally, at last, rest with an unburdened soul. 

That is perhaps the best we can hope for.

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 Seizing the Day

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain

To all there comes but once chance at each day, and then the opportunity to live it to its fullest is gone. For most, regret is of lost opportunities, not mistaken actions. Seize the day!

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.

On the Power of Words

“A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt: it tingles exquisitely around through the walls of the mouth and tastes as tart and crisp and good as the autumn-butter that creams the sumac-berry.”
-Mark Twain

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but it on foundation of ideas, as sublimely expressed in words, upon which civilizations are built.

On Watching Your 401k Too Closely

“He is now fast rising from affluence to poverty.”
-Mark Twain

Unmatched is the speed with which all illusions of growing affluence disappear into oblivion.

Don’t look. It won’t make you any richer.