If they [the dead] should speak, it would be found that in matters of opinion no departed person was exactly what he had passed for in life. They would realise, deep down, that they, and whole nations along with them, are not really what they seem to be-and never can be.
Mark TwainWhen one's character begins to fall under suspicion and disfavor, how swift, then, is the work of disintegration and destruction.
Mark TwainI can always tell which is the front end of a horse, but beyond that, my art is not above the ordinary.
Mark TwainThe gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad. I speak now, of course, in the supposition that the gentle reader has not been abroad, and therefore is not already a consummate ass. If the case be otherwise, I beg his pardon and extend to him the cordial hand of fellowship and call him brother.
Mark Twain