To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself.… Anybody can have ideas—the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.

About Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He has been praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced", with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature". Twain's novels include...

More quotations from Mark Twain

Familiarity breeds contempt—and children.

—Mark Twain

children familiarity

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

—Mark Twain

I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.

—Mark Twain

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered—either by themselves or by others.

—Mark Twain

Never learn to do anything: if you don't learn, you'll always find someone else to do it for you.

—Mark Twain

More quotations tagged with “achievement”

How my achievements mock me!

—William Shakespeare

achievement

All great achievements require time.

—Maya Angelou

time achievement

Life achieves its summit when it does to the uttermost that which it was equipped to do.

—Jack London in White Fang

doing life accomplishment achievement

I just don't know why they're shooting at us. All we want to do is bring them democracy and white bread. Transplant the American Dream. Freedom. Achievement. Hyperacidity. Affluence. Flatulence. Technology. Tension. The inalienable right to an early coronary sitting at your desk while plotting to stab your boss in the back.

—Alan Alda as Hawkeye on M*A*S*H

technology freedom democracy achievement America

If you don't try at anything, you can't fail. It takes back bone to lead the life you want.

—Richard Yates in Revolutionary Road

life accomplishment risk failure achievement trying

History

24 Jun 2016 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself. . . . Anybody can have ideas — the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.