Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.

Until I came to New Mexico, I never realized how much beauty water adds to a river.

Alas! those good old days are gone, when a murderer could wipe the stain from his name and soothe his trouble to sleep simply by getting out his blocks and mortar and building an addition to a church.

A reputable lawyer will advise you to keep out of the law, make the best of a foolish bargain, and not get caught again.

I will now claim - until dispossesed - that I was the first person in the world to apply the typewriter to literature. ... The early machine was full of caprices, full of defects- devilish ones. It had as many immoralities as the machine of today has virtues. After a year or two I found that it was degrading my character, so I thought I would give it to Howells. ... He took it home to Boston, and my morals began to improve, but his have never recovered.

Of all the animals, man is the only one that lies.

You perceive I generalize with intrepidity from single instances. It is the tourist's custom.