There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can.
- Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

Let your sympathies and your compassion be always with the under dog in the fight--this is magnanimity; but bet on the other one--this is business.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

Prosperity is the best protector of principle.
- Following the Equator

The primary rule of business success is loyalty to your employer. That's all right--as a theory. What is the matter with loyalty to yourself?
- Speech, 30 March 1901