wisdom & wit

I really enjoyed reading The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain and found one too many quotes that I found a connection with...

Here are my top 6:

“We can secure other people’s approval if we do right and try hard; but our own is worth a hundred of it, and no way has been found out of securing that.” –Following the Equator, 1897 vol. 1, ch. 14

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – MacLaren, Morally We Roll Along, 1938, pg. 66

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. –Phelps, Autobiography with Letters, 1939, pg. 965

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been. –Following the Equator, 1897, vol. 2, ch. 16.

It’s better to keep your mouths shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. – Attributed to Mark Twain and to Abraham Lincoln.

Do not offer a compliment and ask a favor at the same time. A compliment that is charged for is not valuable. –Notebook

Of the above six, my favorite on is highlighted in blue, talking about ambitions. I think in the world that we live in today, we are constantly told that we are not good enough, and that can have a huge effect on many people.

This quote made me connect back to another idea or musing that I recently heard, and that is...we should only surround ourselves by people who are going to life us higher.

I firmly believe in this idea, primarily because insecurities and doubts can have detrimental effects on a person, and when your own ideas and goals are put down, even further problems can develop.

I believe it is extremely important and valuable to surround yourself with people who are only going to have a positive effect on you, not people who bring you down and degrade your goals and aspitations.

After all, as it has been said, you become like the 5 people you hang around the most. That, too, is a strong statement. With that, I will be making a firm effort to only say positive things about others, and only say something that will lift someone up, not bring them down.


until our next laugh,


amanda