Mark Twain Quotes : My subjective 10 best

My 10 best cynical (?) quotes from Mark Twain,

1) Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. ( I find it difficult to communicate with people who were born unhappy, and blame the system for everything from their unemployment to chronic haemorrhoid pains)

2) Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. ( A wise bit of advice, especially when you are out of your depth, and, ask questions rather than give opinions)

3) Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. ( Ha, one can torture figures until they confess)

4) Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. ( Build your sand castles, we all do, but don’t move into them)

5) 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.
(Oftentimes these “people” have less to contribute than the person they belittle)

6) If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. ( Sad but true...a friend once told me the best way to lose a customer was to give him credit)

7) A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself as a liar. ( Never easy to come to terms with this concept, the untrue is often rationalised away into true)

8) Truth is more stranger than fiction ( No comment )

9) You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus
10) And then my favourite, “ Those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t”Image from Wikipedia