My search for the wittiest writer. (Mark Twain)
I’ve always been drawn to a well-turned phrase. Especially one marked by wit. And when I look back at some of the most keen in history, a few great ones perpetually pop up.
But who was the wittiest? Well, Shakespeare might be impossible to beat but putting the Bard aside for the time being, let’s take a look at a few of the contenders.
So far, I have entered Will Rogers, Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill into the conversation. Today, Mark Twain.
A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.
All generalizations are false, including this one.
Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.
I think Twain’s sense of humor might be in the top three of all American’s ever to set ink to paper. The guy just let ‘em fly in a way that still gets us laughing more than 100 years after he hit us over the head with his words.
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.
And his advice on living life, well… who could argue?
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Don’t tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.
Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.
It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.
And of course, one of my all-time favorites quotes EVER!
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
And the thing is, there are more which could be added. One of the best ever… no doubt.
Are schools a house of shame that eats its young or an institution that best represents the ideals of humanity? A look at the news slants us towards the former but when you work with the kids, there is little doubt it’s the latter.