Samuel Clemens (1835-1910) is the birth name of the author known as Mark Twain. His famous stories – including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which tell the tales of free-ranging, playful, and carefree boys – remain required reading for many students today.
Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens: Steamboat Pilot, Author, and Inventor
Clemens had a passion for the Mississippi River. He studied the 2,000 miles of river in order to receive a steamboat pilot license. The river itself played a central role in many of his Mark Twain stories.
Twain's use of humor in his writing had a significant affect on literature and inspired the creation of The Mark Twain Prize for Humor.
Clemens had a close friendship with scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla. Clemens, himself, patented three inventions:
- self-adhesive scrapbook pages
- a history trivia game
- a replacement for clothing suspenders
Mark Twain Quotes on Knowledge, Learning, and Education
"All schools, all colleges, have two great functions: to confer, and to conceal, valuable knowledge." – Notebook, 1908
"Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned." – Mark Twain's Notebook,1935
"Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others." – The Autobiography of Mark Twain,1959
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run." – The Facts Concerning the Recent Resignation, 1867
"Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and...Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do." – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876
"We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter." – A Tramp Abroad, 1880
"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made school boards." – Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
"Many public-school children seem to know only two dates – 1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either occasion." – "The Game" instruction sheet for Mark Twain's Memory Builder
Unverified, Possible Fake Quotes Often Attributed to Mark Twain
The oft quoted, "I have never let my schooling interphere with my education," lacks a verifiable source attributing it to Mark Twain, as do the following.
"I was born intelligent, education ruined me."
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
Learn More About Mark Twain
Find news, biography, fast facts, writings, photos, quotes, and free downloads at The Official Web Site of Mark Twain.
Play Mark Twain's Memory Builder Game, patented in 1885, designed to help people keep their historical facts straight.
Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, remains a literary legend. His stories are familiar to people of all ages and will continue to be shared for generations to come.
Sara McGrath - Sara is a veteran homeschool mom of three, Usborne consultant, and the author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning.
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