Mark Twain · 712 pages
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“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Be good and you will be lonesome.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“He had had much experience of physicians, and said 'the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd druther not'.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“The joy of killing! the joy of seeing killing done - these are traits of the human race at large.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Names are not always what they seem.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“The Whites always mean well when they take human fish out of the ocean and try to make them dry and warm and happy and comfortable in a chicken coop; but the kindest-hearted white man can always be depended on to prove himself inadequate when he deals with savages. He cannot turn the situation around and imagine how he would like it to have a well-meaning savage transfer him from his house and his church and his clothes and his books and his choice food to a hideous wilderness of sand and rocks and snow, and ice and sleet and storm and blistering sun, with no shelter, no bed, no covering for his and his family's naked bodies, and nothing to eat but snakes and grubs and offal. This would be a hell to him; and if he had any wisdom he would know that his own civilization is a hell to the savage - but he hasn't any, and has never had any; and for lack of it he shut up those poor natives in the unimaginable perdition of his civilization, committing his crime with the very best intentions, and saw those poor creatures waste away under his tortures; and gazed at it, vaguely troubled and sorrowful, and wondered what could be the matter with them.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“I find that, as a rule, when a thing is a wonder to us it is not because of what we see in it, but because of what others have seen in it. We get almost all our wonders at second hand.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“It is ingeniously named, for it looks just as a cross would look if it looked like something else.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“These descriptions do really state the truth- as nearly as the limitations of language will allow. But language is a treacherous thing, a most unsure vehicle, and it can seldom arrange descriptive words in such a way that they will not inflate the facts-by help of the readers imagination, which is always ready to take a hand, and work for nothing, and do the bulk of it at that.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“It is easy to make plans in this world; even a cat can do it; and when one is out in those remote oceans it is noticeable that a cat's plans and a man's are worth about the same.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“We have reached a little altitude where we may look down upon the Indian Thugs with a complacent shudder; and we may even hope for a day, many centuries hence, when our posterity will look down upon us in the same way.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“There is no such thing as "the Queen's English." The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“Australasian's custom of speaking of England as "home." It was always pretty to hear it, and often it was said in an unconsciously caressing way that made it touching; in a way which transmuted a sentiment into an embodiment, and made one seem to see Australasia as a young girl stroking mother England's old gray head.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“We all know about Father Damien, the French priest who voluntarily forsook the world and went to the leper island of Molokai to labor among its population of sorrowful exiles who wait there, in slow-consuming misery, for death to come and release them from their troubles;”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“One is often surprised at the juvenilities which grown people indulge in at sea, and the interest they take in them, and the consuming enjoyment they get out of them.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“There are many humorous things in the world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.—[See”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“The average human being is a perverse creature; and when he isn't that, he is a practical joker.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“...and they come without any inherited prejudices in favor of hoary ignorances made sacred by long descent.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
“to make a pledge of any kind is to declare war against nature; for a pledge is a chain that is always clanking and reminding the wearer of it that he is not a free man.”
― Mark Twain, quote from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
Mark Twain
Born place: in Florida, Missouri, The United States
Born date November 30, 1835
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“What are you doing?’
‘What?’ Ugh. I suck at this.
‘Are you batting your lashes at me?’
‘What, me? No, of course not. What . . . spell it.’
He squints his eyes suspiciously at me. ‘This is awkward.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?’
‘You’d lose all respect for me if I did.’
‘I’d make an exception for you.”
― Susan Ee, quote from End of Days
“You were right to end it with us,” I said harshly. “And I’m not willing to do it again.”
He stared at me, shocked. My words were a lie, of course. Part of me wanted to try again, to endure anything to be with him. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Maddie. Couldn’t stop thinking about the hurt she would go through. It was ironic, really. Last time, he’d gone out of his way to hurt me purposely because it was for the greater good. Now I was doing the same for both of them, saving her from heartache and him from more grief with me. We were in an endless cycle.
“You can’t mean that. I know you can’t.” His face was a mixture of incredulity and pain.
I shook my head. “I do. You and me are a disaster. What we did during this stasis...it was wrong. It was disgraceful. Immoral. We betrayed someone who loves both of us, who wishes nothing but the best for us. How could we do that? What kind of precedent is that? How could we expect to have a solid relationship that was built on that sort of sordid foundation? One that was built on lies and deceit?” Saying those words hurt. It was tarnishing the beauty of these precious few days we had, but I needed to make my case.
Seth was silent for several moments as he assessed me. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.” I was a good liar, good enough that the person who loved me most couldn’t tell. “Go back to her, Seth. Go back to her and make it up to her.”
“Georgina...” I could see it, see it hitting him. The full weight of betraying Maddie was sinking in. His nature couldn’t ignore the wrong he’d done. It was part of his good character, the character that had gone back to save Dante, the character that was going to make him leave me. Again. Hesitantly, he extended his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me into an embrace. “I will always love you.”
My heart was going to burst. How many times, I wondered, could I endure this kind of agony? “No, you won’t,” I said. “You’ll move on. So will I.”
Seth left not long after that. Staring at the door, I replayed my own words. You’ll move on. So will I. In spite of how much he loved me, how much he was willing to risk, I truly felt he’d go back to Maddie, that he’d believe what I said. I’d driven home the guilt, made it trump his love for me.
You’ll move on. So will I.
The unfortunate part about being a good liar, however, was that while I could get other people to believe my words, I didn’t believe them myself.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Succubus Heat
“I'll be there for ya, girl. No matter what.
Beck took a deep breath and released it slowly. He had to stay strong for her, make the tough decisions. It was best that Paul's daughter never know how he felt about her. There'd be less hurt that way, for both of them.
Just keep her safe, God. I can settle for that.”
― Jana Oliver, quote from Forsaken
“The sun didn’t illuminate me! When you are old, you remain in shadow, even when you have wit.”
― Italo Svevo, quote from Zeno's Conscience
“This is a, uh, friendship ring right?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. If I propose, you’ll know it. For one thing, I’ll be hyperventilating.” A sly smile—surprisingly sexy—turned up his lips. “And it’ll be a ruby.”
“Rubies? No diamonds? Too expensive for the old writer’s salary, huh?”
He made a disparaging grunt at that. “No, I just think diamonds are common, that’s all. If I get married, it’ll be because something uncommon is occurring. Besides, you wear a lot of red, right? I know how important it is for your accessories to match.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Succubus Dreams
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