Profile
Mark Twain (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910) was born in Florida,USA. He was an American author and humorist. Twain is famous for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which has been called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Representative works
Mark Twain’s Masterunning for Governor ◆The £ 1,000,000 Bank-Note ◆The Innocent Abroad ◆The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County ( his first story) ◆The Gilded Age ◆Following the Equator ◆Roughing It ◆The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson
“Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.”
“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.”
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
"Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person."
Mark Twain and the Mississippi
◆Mark Twain loved the great river so much that he always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. Many of his great works are set in the background of the Mississippi River, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry
Three Stages of Mark Twain’s Thought and Works ◆active and lively; ◆full of acid and satirical sense; ◆pessimistic and cynic.
His Famous Words
“Wisdom teaches us that none but birds should go out early, and that not even birds should do it unless they are out of worms.”
never shows to anybody.”
Picture from Dave Thomson collection:
“The holy passion of Friendship is so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."
Picture from Dave Thomson collection:
“The
dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's.”
Picture from Dave Thomson collection:
A Brief Assessment
Mark Twain is a part of America. His personal success and failure were those of America. He moved, along with America, from innocence to experience. He was famous for his description of common people and the way they talked, but especially for his humor. Yale and Oxford honored him for his writing.
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.”
“Classic--a
book which people praise and don't read.”
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he
Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
and Life on the Mississippi.
A Mirror of America
1. “Mirror” here means a person who gives a true representation or description of the country. 2. Generally speaking, all literary giants in human history are also great historians, thinkers and philosophers. Their works often reveal more truth than many political essays. 3. Mark Twain was one of these giants, and his life and works are a mirror of America of his time.