banner

Directory of Mark Twain's maxims, quotations, and various opinions:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

HUMAN NATURE

It is human nature that even the most conscienceless thieves do not like to be pilloried in the Rogues' Gallery.
- Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2 (2013)
AI image created by R. Kent Rasmussen

Isn't human nature the most consummate sham & lie that was ever invented? Isn't man a creature to be ashamed of in pretty much all his aspects? Is he really fit for anything but to be stood up on the street corner as a convenience for dogs? Man, "Know thyself --& then thou wilt despise thyself, to a dead moral certainty."
- Letter to William Dean Howells, August 31, 1884

AI image created by Barbara Schmidt

Human nature cannot be studied in cities except at a disadvantage--a village is the place. There you can know your man inside and out--in a city you but know his crust; and his crust is usually a lie.
- Notebook #20, Jan. 1882 - Feb. 1883
AI image created by Barbara Schmidt


Clemens at Onteora, 1890
courtesy of
Dave Thomson

There is a great deal of human nature in people.
- Letter to the San Francisco Alta California, written May 18, 1867; published June 23,1867

...human nature is all alike; it shows that we like to know what the big people are doing, so that we can envy them. It shows that the big personage of a village bears the same proportion to the little people of the village that the President of the United States bears to the nation. It shows that conspicuousness is the only thing necessary in a person to command our interest, and in a larger or smaller sense, our worship. We recognize that there are no trivial occurrences in life if we get the right focus on them.
- Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 (2010)

Such is human-nature. The man who drinks beer at home always criticizes the champagne, and finds fault with the Burgundy when he is invited out to dinner.
- Letter from Mark Twain, Chicago Republican, May 19, 1868


Recommended reading:
MARK TWAIN AND HUMAN NATURE by Tom Quirk
available from amazon.com

banner logo

Quotations | Newspaper Articles | Special Features | Links | Search